BBFC Research

Evaluation of Creativity

Last year, when starting media studies I found that I quickly had to find ways to do things, and I needed to learn to use a lot of programmes quite quickly, such as photoshop and as it was one of my first times using a mac I found I had to find ways to quickly adapt to using these products as well.

This hindered the full potential I had for being creative at this point, and as I learn to use new software again this year I may be faced with the same problems again. I now know, however, to be ready for this and in order to maximise my creativity to it's full potential I recognise that I may need to plan even more carefully this year, before I can even use the video editing software. Careful planning and paying particular attention to the shots and lighting I want and organising this will mean I can use a lot of my creativity when filming and using the editing software hopefully will not hinder this very much.

Programmes like photoshop which I will have to use again, I am now already familiar enough with to be able to create even more advanced and interesting pieces. This will help ensure that my creativity can increase and I can do more creative and interesting things with my work.

Therefore, this year I believe I will be able to expand my creativity and hopefully come up with some better and more visually appealing pieces. This is due to previous experience and being better prepared for it this time as well.

Film proposal

The History of Horror - A Timeline

Narrative Theories applied to 'The Witch' Trailer

When viewing the trailer for the recent film 'The Witch' I have identified different parts of the different narrative theories.

The first of these theories I managed to identify elements of was Binary Opposition by Levi Strauss. I managed to identify families taking care of each other and playing together, this is contrasted by the curse that plagues the village later on in the trailer making this a big battle between innocence and evil. I also identified religion vs satanic elements making this quite a religious battle as well. We see the contrast between outside and inside, with the majority taking place outside in the unknown which adds to the horror feeling. Other common opposites we see love vs hate, human vs nature, children vs adults and light and dark.

Another theory I explored was Todorov's theory, in this trailer we established an equilibrium, although it wasn't very settled and didn't give us the feeling that everything was particularly great. When the child goes missing we establish that things have been thrown off balance and the curse begins to plague the locals. Towards the end of the trailer we do begin to realise the characters have recognised that something is wrong and have began to try to remove the curse, but because this is just a trailer we don't see the outcome and how the equilibrium is resolved.

The final theory we looked at was Propp. I established that the man at the start of the trailer would fill the roll of 'the helper'. The woman who the film is about would be either the 'false hero' or the real 'hero' but this is not established as this is just a trailer and not the entire film. The villain I though within this film was the curse itself, although others may argue that the girl is actually the villain as she is the witch, but we don't see her acting villainous and we see her more as a victim of the curse than anything. I identified the mother as the princess character, and finally the dispatcher being woman who says ''You have cursed this family'' as evidenced, not all of the archetypal characters are present within the trailer and the same can be said for many films, but the main ones have been identified.

Trailer Analysis - Don't Breathe (2016)

From this research I learned that including information on the director/producer/creators work works well in helping draw people in, because I as a consumer found great interest in knowing the producers and directors other works. I also learned the importance of including a date at the end of the trailer as it helps generate excitement when the viewers have the date of your film. Finally, I learned that the establishing shot right at the beginning of the trailer works extremely well in helping immerse the reader in the setting quickly without taking too much time out of the trailer and this is an element I would like to include in my trailer.

Initial Thoughts

Media StudiesFilm trailer ideas:

Filming locations:

Barbers Shop, school drama studio, home. 

Ideas:

Female apprentice working in a barber shop, she watches a web series on youtube and something in the series deeply disturbs her. She becomes fascinated by all the tools used to cut hair in the barber shop. She begins to go on a killing spree…..

Music ideas:

Rock music [the rolling stones] intercutting with classical beethoven. This contrast works well for me as it helps build up suspense within my trailer, but it also can be used to portray more calming situations with the classical beethoven as well as the more intense situations with The Rolling Stones track. 

Setting ideas:

I know I would like a big bulk of my trailer to be set within the barbers shop, as well as some of it within the school setting. Darker scenes with entirely black backgrounds will most definitely need to be shot within school as this can be achieved easily and effectively within the drama studio. 

Mood Board

Magazine and Movie Posters - Side by side analysis

Brief

A promotion package for a new film, to include: a trailer, a film magazine front cover (featuring the film) and a poster for the film.

Film Trailer Conventions

These are the film trailer conventions we looked at today. They were featured across the three film trailers that we have looked at.

Film Trailer Conventions PDF