Ideas towards a short film/trailer

I have looked at several short films and trailers to learn and observe the techniques used to create an effective story for the viewer.


Me and my group partner thought about doing a 'Romantic Comedy' and a teaser trailer as it would be interesting to include humour and therefore the audience can establish a certain genre. By chosing to do a trailer we know it has to be catchy and attention grabbing towards the audience, I think if we can make it look like other romantic comedy trailers we will hopefully meet the criteria in the marking system. We both personally prefer rom com's rather than horror and wanted to do something a little different than other people so this is partly why we have chosen to do this certain type of film as they appeal to us more. Although it will be challenging we think overall if we work hard and plan everything out perfectly than the outcome should be deserving.


Some short films that I watched to familiarise myself with romantic comedy trailers are:


'When in Rome'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsb8U014Hs0

    From the start of this trailer it automatically grabs the audiences attention with a skyline of New York City, from this, a setting is established and we know where the film is going to take place for most of the film. There is a quick edit that shows a birds eye view of a fancy party going on in something that looks like a museum where everyone is enjoying themselves, as the camera pans throughout the place it focuses on one person, the camera pauses quickly and the screen splits to a split screen showing a still medium close up of one of the main characters, Beth. Everything is very fast pace from then and we see short clips of her from the movie doing everyday things. This grasps the concept of the typical conventions of a trailer for example, it should portray short clips from the movie and let the audience know who the main characters are. The first 20 seconds show us Beth life, we get the impression that she is a buisness woman, maybe a co ordinator for events? We can already sense some humour with jokes from Beth and others around her.


'The Proposal'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3JpKPZkC2w&feature=relmfu

'Love and other drugs'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKtrLiQTSM8

These are just some rom com trailers that I have looked at but there are many more. They all are catchy and potray a little what the film is going to be about.



The main conventions that I have discovered are: they all establish a plot so we as the audience get a sense what it might be about and therefore want to go and watch it, this is one of the main selling points on a trailer because if it is an interesting plot then it will attract more audiences. Futhermore, main characters are established so it might be actors we are familar with so will make us go and watch it more, also if a character acts or comes across in a certain way then some people might want to associate with them. Lastly I found that trailers should include scenes that are the most attention grabbing in the film through a cleverly designed movie trailer.