Research and Planning: Rough Draft of a Comedy Scene for Proposal 2

Character:
Male from the City(protagonist) - James
Current Girlfriend - Jenny
Mum - Margaret
Dad - Alan

Scene:
[James and Jenny arrive late at night at James' parents house, its about 8pm. He knocks on the door. Jenny is excited to meet his parents. Margaret opens the door with a squeal of excitement she hugs him tight whilst inspecting his hair and rubbing his sideburns.]

Margaret: "do they not have Razors in the city"

[James ignores that comment.]

James: "Mum this is Jenny"

Jenny: "h..."

[Alan interrupts.]

Alan: "James!"

[James goes for a handshake but Alan goes for a hug.]

Alan: "Have you put on a bit of timber son?"

James: "Always a pleasure Dad"

[Meanwhile Jenny is just stood there awkwardly]

Research and Planning: Rough Draft of Comedy Scene for Proposal 1

Characters:
Career driven woman (protagonist) - Lucie
Male intern - Adam


Scene:
In a office/hallway

[Lucie is walking through the hallway playing angry birds on her smartphone. Adam backs out of a door into the hallway struggling to get through with a massive pile of paperwork. Lucie walks straight into him slamming him into the wall.]

Lucie: "Oh sorry"

Adam: "Its o..kay"

[Lucie carries on walking as if nothing happened. Adam looks over to her, as Lucie turns a corner and glances back at him and smiles.]

Research and Planning: Audience Theories

The 'hypodermic needle' model - Suggests that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.

The Cultivation Theory - Suggests that television viewing can have long term effects that gradually affect the audience.

Desensitisation - Suggests that because people are exposed to so much violence in the media violence no longer makes a strong emotional impact on them.

Modelling or Copycat Theory - Suggests that audiences will copy what they see in the media.

Uses and Gratifications Theory - Suggests that we take what we want from the media.

Research and Planning: IMDB research

I have had a look on the IMDB website to see which rom-coms are most popular here are some of the lists that the search returned:

I noticed that there is a good balance between the romance and the comedy non of them have more romance than comedy or vice versa. I also noticed a recurring pattern of actors e.g. Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts who might often be involved with Rom-Coms  

Research and Planing: Bad Examples of Film Trailers

I am going to be looking at only rom-com trailers as that is the genre my trailer will be.



'Two of a Kind' (1983)

After watching this trailer for an Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta reunion I think I would have rather watched 'Grease 2'. The first clip shows Travolta lying in bed whilst the voice over says "John Travolta is one of a kind" he the does a very cheesy smile at the camera, the clip then spins into a scene with Newton-John sitting at a table whilst the voice over says "Olivia Newton-John is one of a kind" it then spins off again to another scene of them dinning at a table together with the voice over saying that they are two of a kind. The clip then goes to a graphic of the movie title and then it finishes. Although the trailer shows us who the cast is it doesn't tell us anything about the characters apart from the fact that they are 'two of a kind' and it doesn't tell us anything about the plot either, we are not left wondering what will happen because we don't know anything in the first place. Maybe they thought that because they worked together in 'Grease' and it was such a 'big hit' that this film would be as successful and they thought they wouldn't have to work hard at attracting the audience.

Research and Planning: Good Examples of Film Trailers

I am going to be looking at only Rom-Com trailers as that is the genre my trailer will be.

'The Proposal' (2009)

I think this is a good example of a film trailer because it introduces you to the characters straight away and it shows you what kind of personalities they have. You can also tell that Sandra Bullocks character thinks that she is better and more important that Ryan Reynolds character. The trailer shows us the main disruption in the film which is that the female character is going to be deported back to Canada. It shows a good balance between the comedy and the romance aspects of the film, and it also introduces an all star cast, Sandra Bullock, Betty White, Ryan Reynolds.

'The Back Up Plan' (2010)

I think this is a good trailer because it introduces you to and you can clearly see who the main character is. The trailer shows you enough of the plot so you have a slight idea as to what is going to happen in the film but it leaves you feeling intrigued and wanting to know more. And like 'The Proposal' trailer it shows you a good balance of romance and comedy scenes. The trailer also shows us a couple of stars who are in the film; Melissa McCarthy who is a well known comedic actor and Jennifer Lopez who will be able to attract a wider audience because as well as acting she was a singer first so she will have more fans wanting to watch the film.

Research and Planning: Proposal Idea Two

Proposal 2

Plot: Male character moved from his family in the country a few years ago to go and work in the city. He comes back home one weekend to see his parents, he brings his current girlfriend. But his parents are good friends with his ex who was also his 'high school sweetheart', seeing and spending time with his ex brings back some good memories and feelings, they end up falling for each other again and when the weekend is over he decides he is not going back to the city and breaks up with his current girlfriend.

Cinematography: 

• high key lighting - bright, happy
• Colouring - red, white, pink
• Slow paced editing, mostly straight and jumps cut to make it realistic and maybe some graphic matches and action matches.
• Shot types - Medium and long shot mostly, a few close ups and establishing shots
• Camera angles - high angles on the current girlfriend, low angles on main male character and main female

Mise-en-scene:

• Man and girlfriend from the city dressed smartly
• People from the country wearing casual clothing
• natural make up

Sound:

• Royalty free, acoustic music and our own sound effects

Research and Planning: Proposal Idea One

Proposal 1

Plot: Well educated, high achieving woman desperately wants to date the new guy from her work but keeps embarrassing herself every time she plucks up the courage to ask him. Unbeknown to her the guy feels the same way about her. However her past lover (who is her boss) intrudes on their growing relationship, the guy she is falling for is confused by her and her past lovers' relationship as he thinks they are still together and he begins to distance himself. In the end, they both end up confessing their love for each other and they live happily ever after.

Cinematography:

• High key lighting - bright, happy
• Colouring - red, white, pink
• Slow paced editing, straight cuts & jump cut to make it realistic, graphic matches, and action matches 
• Shot types - Mostly a mixture of medium and long shots with a few close ups and establishing shots of scenery
• Camera angles - high angles on the past lover, low angles on her and the new guy
• Mise-en-scene - All smartly dressed as they are mostly at work, natural make up.
• Sound - Royalty free, acoustic music and our own sound effects e.g. sounds for traffic.

Research and planning: Film certificate

We have decided the certificate for our film should be a 12A because our film will not contain frequent strong language and sexual activity and nudity will be brief and discreet so our film will be likely to be accepted into this category.

We have decided that the trailer for our film will be PG because it will not contain sexual activity/references and will not contain strong language so we can show the trailer before the watershed.

Research and Planning: Analysis of Trailers - 'We're the Millers'

Genre
Andrew Sarris has a theory which states that 'genre is the idea that it has a recognisable style that draws in an audience' I think that this theory applies in the 'we're the Millers' trailer because straight away from watching it we know that the film is a comedy because the whole trailer is a montage of small clips of the most hilarious scenes from the film. This has been done because the comedic parts of a film are obviously the most important in a comedy film. So the want to show the audience the funniest scenes to attract them to go and watch the film.

Representation
Laura Mulvey's (1977) theory named 'the male gaze' suggesting that the camera looks at things from a male point of view is apparent in this trailer because the film is mostly based around the protagonist character of the male drug dealer and there is also a few scenes where Jennifer Anistons character is giving a lap dance this scene reoccurs throughout the trailer and last longer than the other scenes in the trailer, there is also another clip of Jennifer Anistons character stripping, this clip again, lasts a lot longer than others and some parts of this clip is even in slow motion.
The stereotypes in this trailer are very conventional. The first character we are introduced to is a male drug dealer perhaps in his late 20's or early 30's, he looks quite scruffy and dirty a lot like he doesn't care about his appearance. The second character is a 'geeky' teenage boy with 'girl problems'. We also have a teenage girl who is quite moody and argues anything and lastly an attractive female neighbour unhappy in her work.

Narrative 
The protagonist in this film is the male drug dealer character. Who also plays the anti hero role because in the end he fixes everything but he doesn't look like your stereotypical hero. The plot conforms to Todorovs theory of equilibrium, disruption, equilibrium restored. We start off with the equilibrium being that he is a drug dealer doing well for himself. The the first disruption is that he is mugged by a group of teenagers when he tries to break up a fight, but the main disruption comes when he is forced by his boss to smuggle drugs from Mexico to the US. But of course the equilibrium is restored at the end of the film when he does the right thing and turns in the drugs. But there are many other disruptions along the way such as the camper van breaking down and having to camp out with another family they come across, and having to take a trip to the hospital as Kenny gets bitten by a tarantula.

Audience
I think to watch this trailer the audience have to be quite active as it is very fast paced so they will need to concentrate to watch and understand it. I think the right audience will enjoy the trailer and will see the comedic elements of it but I think some other people might take offence by it because many people obviously don't agree with drugs and because it is such a strong and important aspect of the film they wont like it. I think this trailer will appeal to both a male and female audience with the age ranging from around 16-30's because they have to be mature enough to understand some of the comedy.

Media Language
Throughout the trailer medium close ups and close ups are used to show the characters facial expressions, especially in the most comedic parts. Jump cuts as well as straight cuts are often used in this trailer to make it seem realistic and to make it run quickly which suits the plot of the actual film because it is quite hectic. All these shots and editing cuts are used within the Kuleshov method of montage which again helps the trailer run quickly but smoothly at the same time. The mise-en-scene of this trailer is very conventional clothing wise because at first the main character is dressed scruffy and dirty to look like a drug dealer and when they change into the family he has a very neat, perfect hairstyle as well as clean, smart clothes, they look like a very stereotypical happy, tourist family.

Research and Planning: Analysis of trailers - 'About time'

Genre

This movie trailer is mostly based on romance; with some parts of comedy and science fiction. The trailer conforms to Steve Neal's hypothesis he said that 'Genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations'. In this trailer, the repetition is the  love between the two main characters. The pattern of variation is the time travel, I noticed that the main comedy aspects of the trailer appear more around the time travel than the romance. The trailer also conforms to Andrew Sarris' hypothesis that 'genre is the idea that it has a recognisable style that draws on an existing audience' because from watching the trailer we can straight away recognise that it is a romance so it must conform to the certain 'style' that makes us think romance.

Representation

Laura Mulvey had a theory in which she called 'the male gaze' meaning that films and trailers are seen from the males point of view. I noticed that in this film trailer as the character we saw the most of during the trailer was a male and we also saw a lot of the dad in this trailer this is representing age he comes across as of course a fatherly figure as well as a 'wise older man' because in the clip you can see him giving advice to his son (Tim) but he doesn't seem to be taking on what his dad is saying and uses his gift to find love.

Narrative

Todorov's hypothesis is that 'equilibrium, disruption and equilibrium restored' which I think the 'About Time' trailer conforms to because the equilibrium is when the main character Tim is having a nice, calm conversation with his father; then there is a distruption; he is told that he has time-traveling powers. The equilibrium is resolved when Tim has finally got things right with the woman. The protagonist in this film is the male time travelling character, I think he plays the role of an anti hero as well because he ends up fixing and making everything work out in the end but he isn't dressed as your stereotypical hero.

Audience

I think the trailer uses Uses and Gratifications because the audience can 'take from it what they need' and the audience can be passive for this film because, it is a Romance film which often follow the same kind of structure - 2 people in love, then they encounter a problem, then they're back together in the end so the film is very easy to follow. I would say the target audience for this film trailer would be 17 - 30's because it has the romance element which would appeal to the the whole audience but I think the science fiction element would attract an older audience as well.

Media Language
I notice that it is mostly medium shots used in this trailer I think this makes it look realistic and in a way it seems like we are on the same level as the characters. For the parts of the trailer that show the time travel elements of the film jump cuts are used which makes the clips run quickly. This connotes time moving quickly which could be making a link to the time travel. I also notice that for the comedic parts of the trailer the background music is quietened, to make sure that the audience here it properly and will find it funny.

Research & Planning: Audience Research Results

Results from 72 respondents. | Infographics

Research and Planning: Pitch

Research and Planning: Social network feedback.

Research and planning: Group meeting

My partner I will be working with for this project is Jake Thompson.
We have split the roles between us.

• Producer - Both
• Director - Both
• Location/talent scout - Jake
• Set design/construction - Me
• Props - Me
• Costume Manager - Both 
• Hair & make up - Me
• Camera - Jake
• Production Sound - Me
• Grip/lighting - Both
• Electrical - Jake
• Editorial - Jake
• Sound & music - Me
• Time & budget - Jake

Research and Planning: Audience Interviews

From asking the audience questions I now know more about what pleases an audience for a Rom-Com film.
Here is a list of things I have learnt:

• Make the film different to others
• Have a good balance between the romance and the comedy
• Good/well known cast attracts views
• Show action, don't let the trailer be boreing
• Don't conform to stereotypes of the rom-com genre
• Add other aspects to the film e.g. time travel - like 'About Time'(2013)
• Don't show too much
• Show both romance and comedy so the audience know what type of film they will be watching

Research and Planning: Questionnaire Results

Research and Planning: Questionnaire

This is the questionnaire which I will be handing out to the rest of the class.

Research and Planning: List of audience interview questions

These are the questions which we will be using to interview our target audience.

1.What is your favourite Romantic Comedy Film? Why do you think it makes a good rom-com?

2. What do you like to see in a rom-com? (i.e. obstacles, problems etc.)

3. Can you name a rom-com film who's poster/trailer made you want to go and see it? Why do you think that is?

4. What was the last rom-com film you watched? Did you enjoy it and if so why?

5. What do you think is important to see in a trailer for a romantic comedy?

Research and Planning: Audience Research

Research and Planning: Film Poster

I had to create a film poster to see what I could remember about using photoshop from having a break from it over the summer. I have definitely forgotten how to use some tools but hopefully it'll come back to me soon.

Research and Planning: 'The Chase' trailer sequence

'The Chase' - preliminary task to see what are filming and editing skill are already like - I was an actor for this task and also helped with the editing afterwards.

For this task we were put into small groups and had to film a sequence for a 'The Chase' trailer. Our final clip had to be at least a minute long so we had to make sure we had enough film for this. After editing and cutting all the clips, we had a lot less film than we were expecting, we didn't realise straight away how much we were going to cut out. But this is something that we will be able to greatly improve on with our actual trailer.
We edited the trailer in iMovie which I found quite simple to use but hopefully when I produce my trailer we will be able to see where I have improved.