Final scene list

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Here is our modified scene list. We made some changes to the original scene order and added extra information explaining our thought processes.

Reclassifying genre

We have decided to reclassify the genre of our film as "Romantic Comedy". This is because the romance elements have come through when we were developing the plot, especially as we found ourselves influenced by Todorov’s theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium. However, we still want to appeal to the lucrative teen market and our survey results showed that comedies would be popular.

Initial filming locations

Scene	Filming Location
Posh school establishing shot	Croxteth Country Hall
Posh school corridor	Manchester Town Hall
Principal’s office	Manchester Town Hall
New school establishing shot	The Byrchall High School
New school corridor	Winstanley College corridor
School public place	Winstanley College corridor

Initial scene list

This is our initial scene list. We created it using http://www.bubbl.us/ because this allowed us to use a piece of modern multimedia technology to create an easily readable list. We are going to expand on this by adding 'sibling bubbles' to annotate the technical elements of our trailer.

Film title

We have decided to call our film 'Popular'. This is because the concept of popularity is something that has widespread understanding. Additionally, popularity is important amongst our target audience of younger teenage girls and so we think the themes of the film will appeal to them, hopefully incdreasing the success of the film.

Film title mind map

To help us with the decision making process we decided to create a mind map. We explored a variety of different themes related to the movie.

Todorov’s theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium

Character list

Character	Character Name	Actor/Actress
Female Protagonist	Nikki Peach	Charlotte Bassnett
Male Protagonist	Ethan	Gareth Davies
Posh school friends	Isabella	Laura Highton
	Sophia	Becky Conboy
New school pupils	Lauren	Orianna Knowland
Teacher/principal	Mrs Devernport

Final plot idea

We decided to structure our plot around Todorov’s theory of narrative. The opening of the film would showcase our stereotypical spoilt, ‘rich girl’ character enjoying her life. The equilibrium would be disrupted by taking this girl out of her posh private school and placing her in a rough public school. This break in the equilibrium is further developed with her treatment of her new peers and the way they treat her in response.

The equilibrium is returned through the introduction of a male character that helps her see the error of her ways.

Market research - survey

Before we started our research we created a survey using the Surveymonkey.com service. We have slowly collected data about our target audience's opinions regarding film trailers. You can view our survey by clicking here.

Our results are as follows:

Can you think of any film teaser trailers that stand out as effective?

forgetting Sarah Marshall! :-D

50 first dates!!!

Paranormal Activity 3

John Tucker Must Die

Harry Potter

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Cloverfield

Harry Potter

10 things I hate about you, Inception, Harry Potter DH 2

Easy A, 10 Things I Hate About You

In depth analysis of magazine covers

Harry Potter, August 2008

Colour scheme is mostly blue tones with hints of red. Bold red on top stands out and draws attention on a crowded news stand. Yellow is also used as a juxtaposition to draw attention to certain elements.

EMPIRE title in large font stretches across entire top of magazine. Unusually, it’s positioned in front of the cover model. Other magazines often place the title behind the model. Daniel Radcliffe is looking right at the camera which draws the audience in.

The use of “Massive preview special” text generates excitement and encourages the audience to read the magazine.

Text features popular and recognisable film titles that draw attention and appeal to a wider audience than just the main story.

Hellboy 2, March 2008

Red tones throughout the cover create an intense feeling that stands out on the news stand.

The caption “40 movies that will get you sex” appeals directly to the film and magazine’s target audience, who conform to the stereotype of single, middle-aged men.

Hellboy 2 is based on a comic book meaning there is already an established fan based. This means there is mutual benefit for both the film and magazine companies by featuring Hellboy 2 on the cover.

The use of the caption “first look!” creates excitement for the film because it gives the audience the impression that this magazine has the exclusive, first promotional look at the film.

In depth analysis of film posters

Mean Girls Poster

Simple text is easy to read and stands out to the public. The use of the colour pink is stereotypically femenine and so appeals to the film’s target audience of teenage girls.

Lindsey Lohan is larger than the other characters featured on the poster, suggesting she is the protagonist of the film.

The other three girls  are dressed in pink. This is important because pink is seen as the most feminine colour, so they are therefore the most feminine characters. Additonally, they are wearing relatively short skirts and high heels. To contrast, the protagonist is wearing masculine shoes and jeans, a symbol of the way she is less feminine than the other characters and suggesting she is an outsider.

Wild Child Poster

This poster features a lot of pink and purple tones. Emmphasis is placed on these colours which gives the poster a feeling of femininity and therefor appeals to the film’s target audience.

Emma Roberts is placed larger than the other actresses on the cover suggesting she is the protagonist. She is very good looking and her clothing and props show she is rich, meaning she could be seen as something to aspire towards by the taregt audience.

This poster features a lot of text, including a bold title which stands out against the images and background. In addition to this, there is also information about the release date and a tagline, “New Girl, New School, New Rules”.

In depth analysis of John Tucker must die

	Montage of shots to fast paced music. Voiceover introducing the plot. Introduces 'John Tucker' as a typical jock through costume and props.
	Mid shot of ‘John Tucker’ with two girls – develops his character and shows him as a ‘player’. Set in a school – shown through the location and the ages of the actors/actresses and the way they are dressed.
	Shows company involved – adds credibility to the film and also serves as a way to promote the studio.
	Reaction shot – shows how the character feels. Clothing has been used to suggest she is working in the restaurant. Location is shown through props.
	Facial expression shows determination. Image of John Tucker in the background on the computer screen shows how serious the girls are about ‘killing’ him. Actress wearing low cut top- perhaps the audience are seeing her as John Tucker sees her: a sex object.
	Facial expression on actor shows he is checking out the girl – develops his character as a womanizer. Outfit suggests he is sporty which adds to the jock stereotype he is based on.
	Positioned on team member’s shoulders further develops his position as a jock and leader of the sports teams. Wide camera angle shows the setting, a stereotypical high school gym.
	Titles in bold text attract attention. Font and design choice is simple to make it stand out.
	Facial expression shows he is a bit of a pervert. Repeated sexualisation of female characters in the trailer is used to add to this impression.
	Semi naked, attractive male character appeals to teenage female target audience.
	Close up of men in thongs. Adds comedy to the trailer and hellps to set the mood for the film.
	Dramatic, exciting title helps to create excitement and draw in the viewers’ attention, helping ticket sales.

In depth analysis of Easy A

	Mid shot of facial expression – shows actress’s reaction. Soft, dark lighting with lamp shown in frame suggests evening/night time.
	Captions throughout - help to show the passage of time. Spending Saturday Morning painting nails with her dog – suggests she is a bit 'sad' or lonely. Helps to develop her character. Framing of the shot has placed her on a 1/3rd line.
	Painting dog’s nails – further develops her character as sad, lonely etc. Colours are quite bright – suggests film is cheerful and happy Facial expression – concentration and determination shows she has probably done this before. Further develops her character.
	Desktop wallpaper is herself – suggests vanity. Sewing – unusual for her age range to spend weekends sewing (fixing damaged clothing?) and is enjoying herself as she does it. This further suggests she is unusual and not like her peers, because she does not conform to the teenage girl stereotype. Again, colours are bright and cheerful.
	Dancing with her dog. Wide shot used to further emphasise her loneliness. Showing she is lonely repeatedly suggests she is an outcast at school –doesn’t fit in with her peers. This may be a common feeling amongst the film’s teenage target audience, and so appeals directly to them.
	Captions shown again – continue to show the passage of time Singing in the shower – develops character a bit more, no inhibitions. In all scenes in the trailer the text doesn't cover anything important within the scene such as characters faces etc.
	Bright tones again Instant Messaging open on computer – suggests she has friends online. However, she’d rather dance around enjoying the music. Her facial expression has changed. At the beginning she hated the song, now she loves it.
	Dog present again – she doesn’t spend her free time with friends from school; she spends it with her dog. Like at a sleepover, she paints the dog’s nails. Is the dog a substitute for real friendship? Again a focus on eccentric facial expressions. Unusual item of clothing resting on a mannequin to the left of the frame.  Further develops the idea that she is a bit weird.
	Features the film title in large text so it is the main focus. Also has release date of film. Enough information to get the audience interested but not too much that it gives away the plot etc. Title being prominent on the screen makes it easier to remember the name of the film.

Teaser trailer plot ideas

Plot Ideas:

Posh, rich girl moves from her private school to the local comprehensive. She treats the students and staff with a snobbish attitude and is unwilling to treat them nicely. As a result, she is bullied, sees the error of her ways and ends up turning into a nice person.

Pros: Convenient to film. Follows Todorov’s theory of narrative. Simple narrative – easy to convey in short trailer form. Conforms to conventions of existing films within this genre.

Cons: It’ll be difficult to strike a balance between too much and too little information in the trailer.

Gang bullies timid, quiet boy into dealing drugs. After a short amount of time, he is drawn into the world of gangs and struggles to escape from the grasp of drugs, fighting and violence.

Pros: Gritty, urban feel is consistent with recent successful British Indie films (Kidulthood, This Is England)

Cons: Difficult film locations. Complicated plot more difficult to explain through a short trailer.

Children’s animated film, focusing around the lives of two siblings who discover a portal to another world.  In the other world, they learn about the fight between good and evil and battle to save their new friends, before returning back to their old lives.

Pros: Simple plot Follows Todorov’s narrative theory and conforms to Propp’s theory of characters.

Cons: Our skills are not broad enough to attempt to make an animation.

Final Plot Idea:

We decided to do the comedy because it had the most positive elements and we struggled to find any major setbacks. It’ll also be easier to find actors/actresses because the characters would all be in our age range. Also, filming locations would be convenient because it would include locations like around school and in our homes, whereas the other ideas would need us to film in more difficult locations. Additionally, the comedy fits in really well with the codes and conventions of existing teen movies.