Frame 1- Storyline
Frame 1 is an image of the detective board that Stacey got her hands on whilst taking the case into her own hands. This is one of the ways in my trailer that will show the audience that Stacey has decided to try and solve the case herself. The board and what features on it indicates to the audience that there are several suspects that need to be questioned about the murder of Zac, which is a common convention in the thriller genre. However, No More is also unconventional when it comes to storylines of thriller films as the antagonist does not feature. The antagonist does not make an appearance in my film as we wanted the mystery to be as enhanced as possible. The nature of the storyline of No More resulted in my trailer being left on a cliff hanger- another convention we conformed to in the thriller genre. We did this by the final shot being of someone picking the flowers up from Zac's grave and picking the petals off. It is unclear to the audience who this person is which increases the mystery and uncertainty, making the want to see the whole film.
Frame 2- Props
For frame 2 I have used a mid shot of Mrs Lane drinking a glass of vodka and the alcohol bottle placed on the table in front of her. Alcohol is a common convention in the thriller genre as it is used as a coping mechanism for characters that are struggling. In our trailer it is Mrs Lane, Zac's mother, that is struggling so she turns to alcohol as a way to help her feel less pain. In the thriller film, Girl On The Train, there is a similar shot of the protagonist with an alcohol bottle in her hand, suggesting that she is using alcohol as a way of numbing her pain and depression. We decided to feature this convention in our trailer as it highlights the pain and emotion that the characters are feeling.
Frame 3- Lighting
Frame 3 shows Stacey dialling 999. This shot conforms to the common convention of low key lighting in thriller films. We decided to use low key lighting as it creates a dark and mysterious atmosphere which fits in well with the storyline of our film. Also, the brightness of the phone screen against the dark background is contrasting which helps the shot stand out. We took inspiration from the film Prisoners as this thriller film features a mid shot of a car with its lights on at night, which therefore means there is a clear contrast making the shot memorable as it stands out. In many more of our shots, such as the car headlights switching on and the conversation between Stacey and Mrs Lane, we continued to use low key lighting to ensure the sense of darkness runs throughout the whole film trailer. Before filming these shots we took the time to arranged times to film them to ensure we received the correct lighting so they looked as effective as possible.
Some of the settings that feature throughout No More include the outside of St Neots police station, a park, St Neots Secondary School and Stacey's bedroom. All of these settings are conventional except the school. We decided to follow these conventions as they help to establish the genre. Also, these settings appear in the everyday lives of our target audience which in some ways makes our film relatable to them. For example, the bedroom setting emphasises the fact that the characters are just 'normal' citizens, which makes the audience emphasise with the situation more as they understand that bad things can happen to anyone. The house setting has the same effect as the bedroom setting an appears in many thriller films such as the Purge and Gone Girl. The school setting in No More is becoming ever more conventional. This is because in thriller films, typically the characters are older and of adult age however, we wanted our antagonist to be younger to show how times and thriller films are changing. For example, more media products within the thriller genre now are using younger characters such as 13 Reasons Why. The police station is the most conventional setting in our film trailer and appear in several thriller films such as Gone Girl, Prisoners and The Perfect Guy. They are conventional as police and police stations connote fear and danger which are emotions that appear in most thriller trailers.
Frame 5- Title
Frame 5 of my 9 frame analysis shows our title and how it is presented in our trailer. No More was not the original name of our film however myself and Abbie decided that it fits much better with the genre and story line as it gives the audience a brief insight into our trailer without giving too much away, still leaving ambiguity and uncertainty about what actually happens in our trailer and film.
One way in which our title uses conventions of other thriller film titles is because it is only two words. Most thriller film titles consist of one or two word titles such as 'Gone Girl', 'Taken' and 'Prisoners'. We decided to follow this convention as the shorter names are generally more effective because they are easier to remember. This means that our film name will be memorable to our target audience which will result in them watching the whole film.
Deciding on the font for our title was quite a long process due to the amount of options we had. Eventually we decided on 'Franklin Gothic Heavy'. We took inspiration from the 'Purge' title as it is very simple but effective; just how we wanted ours to be. We chose a sans serif font as it connotes seriousness which is related to the plot of our film. This is another common convention in thriller films that we decided to conform to.
The colours we decided on in the No More title are red, white and black. The background is black, the 'No' is in white and the 'More' is in red. The colours black and red connote danger and fear and which are all emotions that feature in the thriller genre. White, on the other hand, connotes purity and innocence which contrasts against the connotations of the black and red. This creates a sense of uncertainty to the audience, which is another convention in thriller films. We took inspiration from the 'Taken 2' film title when deciding on the colours we would use, however we wanted to feature more colours so added in white.
Frame 6- Film Poster
Frame 6 is an image of the bottom of my film poster. I chose this part of my poster as it follows several conventions of thriller film posters. For example, the institutional information is a common convention on film posters which I decided to follow as it gives the audience more information about the behind the scenes activities, making the audience more interested and leaving them wanting to watch the whole film. Other conventions that features on my film poster is the release date and age certificate. I decided to include these on my poster as it reminds the audience of our film. For example, the release date reminds them when the film is coming out and the age certificate reminds them of the target audience for our film. It also indicates that some things included in our film are too inappropriate for anyone younger than the age of 15 which will make our target audience want to watch No More as people in this age bracket are interested in exciting, thrilling and intense films. Another conventional feature on my film poster, which is not shown in the image, is the 5 star rating that I included. This shows the audience that our film is of the best quality and will make them want to watch it, which is why I decided to feature it on my poster.
Frame 7- Special Effects
We used several different special effects during our trailer. Some of which included the contrast effect, the blur effect and the black and white effect. We decided to us many special effects as it
connotes that things are very distorted and confused. The special effect shown in frame 7 is the contrast effect. We added in special effects to show the change in the atmosphere of the film and to show that bad things can happen to anyone at any time. Many of the special effects we used in our film trailer are conventional such as the blur and black and white effect as they both appear I films such as Before I Go To Sleep and Girl On The Train, however, the contrast effect was unconventional and appeared in very few thriller films. We also used video transitions to make the shots fade in nicely. The transitions we used most were fade to black and fade to white. These transitions appeared mostly at the start of No More, before the mood dramatically changed. We featured them at the start of the trailer so that each shot transitioned smoothly into the next. As the mood of our film changed, the less transitions we used. This was to connote chaos and mystery which are both conventional themes that run throughout thriller films.
Frame 8- Introduction of Characters
Throughout our trailer only 4 characters are introduced, one of which is the main character. This is challenging conventions of thriller films and trailers as typically several characters are featured and introduced in this particular media product. We decided on using a minimal amount of characters so that the audience are able to focus on the plot more. Also, by using fewer characters, the audience would be able to invest more in the other characters. This means that the audience would engage more in Stacey's, the antagonist, journey which will make them feel more involved and result in them watching the whole of No More.
In the No More trailer the protagonist is never introduced to the audience. We decided to do this to create a sense of ambiguity and mystery. In this media product, the protagonist is not conventionally introduced at all, or if they are they are featured in a way which hides their identity, for example by wearing a black hoodie or some sort of mask. In the thriller film Now You See Me, the protagonist is not introduced until the end of the film and is portrayed by mid shots from behind in a black hooded jumper until this point.
Zach Lane and Stacey are introduced together at the start of No More. The are portrayed as having a very good friendship as in the mid shot they are laughing and chatting together. This allows us to create a strong contrast between the friendship and the horror of the death of Zach Lane.
Frame 9- Magazine Front Cover
Frame 9 shows a section of my magazine front cover. This section of my magazine cover conforms to many conventions of film magazine covers. It shows the title of our film which is displayed in the same font as in our trailer and on my film poster. This is to show synergy and allows the audience to link all my of media products together, which is conventional in real media texts. Another way I used synergy was by the colour scheme I had chosen. I used red, white and black on my magazine front cover as very similar colouring appears throughout my film poster and trailer thus reminding the audience of my media products. My magazine cover also includes a barcode, issue number, price and date. These things are all also conventional as they are necessary on all magazines. One part of my magazine that is unconventional is that the word 'Exclusive' is larger than the film name. Stereotypically the film name is displayed larger than any other words on the cover, except the magazine name. I decided against this as the word 'Exclusive' is a very catchy buzz word. This will attract the reader and audience more as this will associate my media texts with high quality products.
Frame 6 is an image of the bottom of my film poster. I chose this part of my poster as it follows several conventions of thriller film posters. For example, the institutional information is a common convention on film posters which I decided to follow as it gives the audience more information about the behind the scenes activities, making the audience more interested and leaving them wanting to watch the whole film. Other conventions that features on my film poster is the release date and age certificate. I decided to include these on my poster as it reminds the audience of our film. For example, the release date reminds them when the film is coming out and the age certificate reminds them of the target audience for our film. It also indicates that some things included in our film are too inappropriate for anyone younger than the age of 15 which will make our target audience want to watch No More as people in this age bracket are interested in exciting, thrilling and intense films. Another conventional feature on my film poster, which is not shown in the image, is the 5 star rating that I included. This shows the audience that our film is of the best quality and will make them want to watch it, which is why I decided to feature it on my poster.
Frame 7- Special Effects
We used several different special effects during our trailer. Some of which included the contrast effect, the blur effect and the black and white effect. We decided to us many special effects as it
connotes that things are very distorted and confused. The special effect shown in frame 7 is the contrast effect. We added in special effects to show the change in the atmosphere of the film and to show that bad things can happen to anyone at any time. Many of the special effects we used in our film trailer are conventional such as the blur and black and white effect as they both appear I films such as Before I Go To Sleep and Girl On The Train, however, the contrast effect was unconventional and appeared in very few thriller films. We also used video transitions to make the shots fade in nicely. The transitions we used most were fade to black and fade to white. These transitions appeared mostly at the start of No More, before the mood dramatically changed. We featured them at the start of the trailer so that each shot transitioned smoothly into the next. As the mood of our film changed, the less transitions we used. This was to connote chaos and mystery which are both conventional themes that run throughout thriller films.
Frame 8- Introduction of Characters
Throughout our trailer only 4 characters are introduced, one of which is the main character. This is challenging conventions of thriller films and trailers as typically several characters are featured and introduced in this particular media product. We decided on using a minimal amount of characters so that the audience are able to focus on the plot more. Also, by using fewer characters, the audience would be able to invest more in the other characters. This means that the audience would engage more in Stacey's, the antagonist, journey which will make them feel more involved and result in them watching the whole of No More.
In the No More trailer the protagonist is never introduced to the audience. We decided to do this to create a sense of ambiguity and mystery. In this media product, the protagonist is not conventionally introduced at all, or if they are they are featured in a way which hides their identity, for example by wearing a black hoodie or some sort of mask. In the thriller film Now You See Me, the protagonist is not introduced until the end of the film and is portrayed by mid shots from behind in a black hooded jumper until this point.
Zach Lane and Stacey are introduced together at the start of No More. The are portrayed as having a very good friendship as in the mid shot they are laughing and chatting together. This allows us to create a strong contrast between the friendship and the horror of the death of Zach Lane.
Frame 9- Magazine Front Cover
Frame 9 shows a section of my magazine front cover. This section of my magazine cover conforms to many conventions of film magazine covers. It shows the title of our film which is displayed in the same font as in our trailer and on my film poster. This is to show synergy and allows the audience to link all my of media products together, which is conventional in real media texts. Another way I used synergy was by the colour scheme I had chosen. I used red, white and black on my magazine front cover as very similar colouring appears throughout my film poster and trailer thus reminding the audience of my media products. My magazine cover also includes a barcode, issue number, price and date. These things are all also conventional as they are necessary on all magazines. One part of my magazine that is unconventional is that the word 'Exclusive' is larger than the film name. Stereotypically the film name is displayed larger than any other words on the cover, except the magazine name. I decided against this as the word 'Exclusive' is a very catchy buzz word. This will attract the reader and audience more as this will associate my media texts with high quality products.
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