First Draft Trailer Feedback

Upon finishing the first draft of our trailer, we decided to publish it on YouTube.  This would act as a useful service for receiving constructive criticism from the public, allowing us to improve our product further.  We have also shown our trailer to our media teachers for the same reasons.

After receiving audience feedback and reviewing the draft ourselves, we have created a list of the trailer's strengths and weaknesses to work from.

Strengths

• Sticks to the conventions of a teaser trailer:  1 minute and 24 seconds in length, begins with showing the film’s production companies,  has been created intentionally for marketing/to build anticipation for the film’s release, ‘teases’ the audience with short snippets from the film (establishing the concept and genre of the film but without revealing too much of the plot), ends conventionally by informing the audience of the film’s title and stating that it is 'coming soon' rather than providing a specific date.

• Sticks to the conventions of the 'Action-Thriller' genre: has the concept of a male protagonist fighting for survive, a government body act as an adversary, use of enigmas, striking establishing shots, multiple chase scenes which use tracking/panning shots, urban setting, effective use of both high key and low key lighting, fast paced editing, variety of transitions (mainly jump cuts), dramatic climaxing music, use of a tag line, edgy typography.

Weaknesses 

• The trailer does not contain any reviews or awards it has received, a missing feature which would generate more interest in our impressionable target audience.

• The trailer does not include a 'billing block' of film credits at the end, with only the words 'coming soon' being shown.  This is unconventional for any teaser trailer, as it is often considered an essential feature.   

• The footage used forms too much of a coherent whole, potentially spoiling the film's plot by being too chronological.

Initial Poster Designs

These are our initial ideas for our Film Poster. Whilst shooting in Tunbridge Wells we decided to take numerous photographic evidence of our time throughout filming. We then used specific images that we think would be ideal for our Poster. 

This is the first design for our Poster. We decided to take a scene from within our trailer, so our viewers could relate it to both the Poster and the Trailer.
Taking note of codes and conventions I used plain white Arial font in capitals for the majority of the text on the Poster. Existing Posters such as Limitless and The Bourne Identity have used Arial Fonts in white either in the centre or at the bottom. We went against this convention and positioned our title centrally at the top.
On Microsoft Word I edited and enhanced the image by increasing the contrast and darkness. This created a more 'moody' and 'negative' effect to the Poster, whilst enhancing and improving the quality.
We previously deconstructed the Enemy of the State and The Bourne Identity Poster, both of which had a subtle target that was placed directly over the top of the main characters, and so I experimented and created this target on Microsoft Word.
The positioning of the Actors' names also plays an importance. 'Alex Gylanders' is our main character as so we positioned him centrally, which is where the viewers' eyes land.    

This is our second design for our Poster. As demonstrated this appears to be more of a thriller compared to the first design which does not relate to the action genre. 

We guided our actor's and asked them to perform a chase scene within Tunbridge Wells Car Park. Whilst doing this we took continuous shots of them both running. From a selection of five, we chose this image above. 

We believe that this particular shot captures a lot of action and informs the viewer that the Poster is representing an Action/Political Thriller. 

I have also used the same font and colour compared to the first design, as well as the positioning of the subtle white target directly highlighting the protagonist. 

This poster is a lot more dark and sinister, which truly represents a Thriller Poster. Darkness represent isolation, fear, anxiety, secretive etc which all are reflected in the Trailer.  

We have created a survey for our target market to complete which will help us develop their chosen poster to our final design. The survey can be found here.

Current Action-Thriller Film Research

In order to understand the modern market for action-thriller style films, we have researched any new releases of this genre.  By analysing the main themes in these films, we have established a trending concept that we can subsequently integrate into our own teaser trailer.

Here are a number of the films we have researched, and a small break down of their key themes next to each:

‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ (2012) - Action, Adventure, Horror, Thriller – virus attacks Earth’s population/ heroine is the human race's last and only hope/ hunts for those responsible for the outbreak/ must fight to survive.

‘The Bourne Legacy’ (2012) - Action, Adventure, Thriller – top secret government program/ intends to wipe out all the genetically modified killers it created/ protagonist must flee in order to save his life.

‘Haywire’ (2012) – Action, Thriller - female covert ops specialist/ hunted down/ discovers she has been double-crossed by someone close to her in the agency/ strikes back.

‘Safe House’ (2012) - Thriller, Action, Adventure - young CIA agent/ tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house/ safe house is attacked/ forced to go on the run with his charge.

‘Act of Valor’ (2012) - War, Action, Adventure, Thriller - mission to recover a kidnapped CIA operative/ unexpectedly discovers imminent global threat/ elite team of Navy SEALs must embark on a secret operation.

‘Premium Rush’ (2012) – Action, Thriller - bike messenger picks up an envelope/ attracts the interest of a dirty cop/ pursues the cyclist through Manhattan.

‘Jack Reacher’ (2012) – Action, Thriller – gunman takes five lives/ evidence points to the suspect in custody/ suspect blames the man Jack Reacher/ Jack Reacher investigates the case himself.

‘Contraband’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller – former drug smuggler/ needs to protect his brother-in-law from a drug lord/ sets out to bring back some counterfeit currency.

‘Man on a Ledge’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Thriller - police psychologist/ tries to talk down an ex-con who is threatening to jump from a Manhattan hotel rooftop/ the biggest diamond heist ever committed is in motion.

‘Now You See Me’ (2013) – Action, Thriller - FBI agents/ track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances/ reward their audiences with the money.

‘Alex Cross’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller - homicide detective/ pushed to the brink of his moral and physical limits/ attempting to track down a serial killer who specializes in torture and pain.

‘Taken 2’ (2012) – Action, Thriller - retired CIA operative Mills/ he and his ex-wife taken hostage/ culprit is the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.

‘The Company You Keep’ (2012) – Political, Action, Thriller - former Weather Underground activist/ journalist discovers his identity/ forced to go on the run.

‘Assassin’s Bullet' (2012) – Action, Drama, Thriller - unknown vigilante/ begins killing high-priority terrorists/ former FBI field agent brought in/ ordered to discover the identity of the assassin.

‘Cleanskin’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller - British secret service agent/ ordered to kill a British-born suicide bomber and his terrorist cell.

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012) – Action, Drama, History, Thriller - female CIA operative/ pursues leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader/ in 2011 U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden.

‘Riddick’ (2013) - Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller – Riddick betrayed and left for dead/ fights for survival against alien predators/ bounty hunters try to find him/ Riddick unleashes an attack of vengeance.

‘Welcome to the Punch’ (2013) – Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller - former criminal/ forced to return to London/ gives detective one last chance to catch him/ uncover a deeper conspiracy they both need to solve in order to survive.

‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters’ (2013) - Action, Comedy, Horror, Thriller - Hansel and Gretel/ vigilantes/ hell bent on retribution/ unknowingly become the hunted.

‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ (2013) - Action, Adventure, Thriller - Katniss Everdeen/ returns home after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games/ must embark on a Victor's Tour/ senses that a rebellion is simmering/ the 75th Annual Hunger Games is about to begin.

‘Safe’ (2012) - Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller – former elite agent/ Russian Mafia murders his family/ he rescues a Chinese girl/ they are pursued by the same gangsters, corrupt New York Police and the Triads.

The main concept that we wish to adopt from these current action-thrillers, is the idea that our protagonist has to fight to survive.  Just like in the films ‘Premium Rush’ and ‘Safe’, our main character is forced to go on the run, when he is pursued for something in his possession.  Then similarly to films such as ‘Haywire’ and ‘The Bourne Legacy’, our protagonist’s adversary is the government itself.  This consequently sparks debate in the audience about the morality of the authority's actions.

More Problems and Solutions

After reviewing our initial problems and solutions post, which can be found here, we have created a new table with the new problems we came across, and what we did to solve them.

Problem	Solution
WEATHER (SNOW) Due to the snow, there were disruptions to travel and we didn’t feel the aesthetic fit with the conventions of the genre.	We had to postpone our filming and continue with other elements including the blog, poster, website and editing the footage we already had.
ILLNESS One of our group members became ill and was unable to attend school for a number of weeks.	We ensured our whole group were informed as to what was going on and did as much as we could with two of us until her return.
ACTORS Our actors had a hectic schedule and were unable to attend some of the filming sessions we had planned.	We eventually planned a day where all our actors were free to film and in the meantime, we continued with our other elements.

DECONSTRUCTION: Limitless Poster

DECONSTRUCTION: The Bourne Identity Poster

DECONSTRUCTION: Enemy of the State Poster