Script for Voiceover

If I decide to include a voiceover in my trailer it will be done by my main female character and it will be played over the shots.

Script for Voiceover done by Female Protagonist: 

Option 1:
People always talked about finding the one. The one person to spend the rest of your life with, the one person to wake up to every day, the one person to hug you when you cry and to smile when you're happy. The one however, is hard to find and frankly it scares me that there is only one person out there for each of us. We could go our whole lives searching and still never find the one, that's why at the ripe old age of 18 I had given up on the hope of finding the one... or anyone to be quite honest, until I met Theo.

Option 2:
I was always told that if you love somebody you should let them go. I never understood this, surely loving someone is never letting go. Loving someone is staying up all night just talking, loving someone is letting them decide what food to eat, loving someone is shaving your legs even in winter, it's giving them the last slice of cake, it's sacrificing sleep so you can cuddle and this is love.

Option 3:
Left school, no job, and every week I got the threat of being kicked out of my parents house. The last thing on my mind was finding love. At school they almost told me that I would never amount to anything and if I left my life would be over, but honestly, it's only just begun.


Out of the three options I think that option 1 is my favourite so far as it ties in with the narrative of my film and it is stereotypical of the romance genre in the way that the female expreses her feelings about the male. Also I think the end line "until I met Theo" is effective as it sets up the narrative nicely and but it leaves the audience wanting to know more as it's a cliffhanger and they are unaware of what will happen. Leaving the audience wanting to know more/wanting to watch the rest of the film, is the key aim of any trailer and therefore I think this voiceover would achieve this. Option 2 is also quite appealing as it is light-hearted and involves humour but not too much and therefore this would appeal to certain people in my target audience. I will wait until I have filmed my shots and started editing before I decide on the final script for the voiceover, however for now it is useful to have a basic idea of some potential scripts I could include and how these would relate to my trailer and my overall film narrative.

Actors Finalised

Main Female Actress:

                                                                                                          
This is the actress I have chosen to play my main female character in my romance film. I think that Kate is a good choice and fits the brief that I'm looking for, she is of the same age range as the female character (Kate) in my film and looks the way I'd want Kate to look. This shot shows the actress wearing quite a lot of eye make up, this will be similar to how she will have her make up in the film, however in the film she will be wearing a darker coloured lipstick. The only difference between the way I first pictured my female character, and my actress Kate is the hair colour. I described the character to have blonde hair in the trailer, however this actress has brown. I have decided that overall this is not a major problem as this actress does have the curly/wild hair I wanted the character to have, she the colour isn't that important as she will still have the same style I wanted the character to have due to her costume, make up and shape of hair. In terms of convenience, the actress is my sister and we live in the same house so this is very practical for me and means that filming will be fairly easy to arrange and communication won't be a problem. The actress studied drama at AS Level and therefore has had experience in the past with acting, so overall I feel that she is highly appropriate for the part.


Main Male Actor:

This is the actor I have chosen to play the part of the main male protagonist. He is a similar age to the character in the film. He has dark hair which is similar to the way I first thought my male character would look and his hair is styled in the way I pictured it originally. The dark hair will display the male to be mature and potentially a bit mysterious, like the tall-dark and handsome character that is stereotypical of the romance genre. Theo, the male actor, is already in a relationship with my female actress so filming will be easy as there will be no awkwardness and the actors will get on well and have a good, friendly working relationship. Also, there will be no communication problems as the actors both know each other very well and know me very well too so staying in contact and arranging when to film won't be an issue.

Voiceover Examples

I don't know if I'll actually include a voiceover in my film or not, but if I do decide to it will include similar conventions as the two examples above. It was useful for me to look at these two clips and see how the voiceover was used in both. I think the voiceover was very effective in these trailers as it played on the audiences' emotions. Like the two clips above, my film is a romance with a main male and female protagonist, if I did decide to use a voiceover in my trailer, then I would most likely have it being done by the female character because I think that this has conventions of the romance genre, and it will allow the audience to find out a little more about the characters lifestyle and personality. If I use a voiceover I will have to think carefully about how the main character is portrayed and ensure that I don't give too much of the narrative away. 

Script Ideas

I'm unsure if I want to include a script in my trailer or not but I will make one anyway and decide whether it is appropriate when the shots are being filmed. If not then another option is that I have a voiceover from one of the main characters, despite voiceovers becoming less common in recent trailers, voiceovers done from the main characters point of view are still popular because it allows the audience an insight into the characters opinions and personality. Also, voiceovers can be descriptive and help explain the basic narrative to the audience.

Script Draft 1: 

Theo: Hi

Kate: Hello

Theo: Theo, nice to meet you (holds out hand)

Kate: Kate (reaches and shakes Theo's hand, giggles)

Later in the trailer:

Kate: Theo, I love you

Theo: I love you too

(actors hug and kiss, they are smiling and looking happy)

Even if I do include a script in my trailer I am going to keep it very basic with a few lines at most because otherwise I feel like it will either be very cheesy and quite unprofessional or it will give away too much of the narrative and make the film potentially predictable. Also, the script won't include whole conversations between the characters because the trailer uses montage editing and jump cuts therefore it won't just focus on one whole scene in the film.

Film Pitch

This is a simple pitch I did in front of my media class on the initial ideas for my film trailer. I thought it was useful to present my ideas in this way and receive feedback from a group of people around a similar age and with a similar lifestyle to that of the main characters in my film. Over half of the class were female teenagers so they tied into my target audience very well and it was useful that I got to see their reactions and hear their comments about my initial trailer idea. Also, it was useful to get a male perspective and opinion on some of my ideas, even though they aren't the specific target audience that I'm focusing on. My pitch outlines my basic ideas about narrative, characters, locations and props. 

Target Audience Detailed

I have gathered all my research and analyses of trailers from past films together and this has allowed me to build an idea of an appropriate target audience for my film. My general, non-specific target audience will just consist of teenage girls or adult females in general, because this is the demographic that has been proven to enjoy romance films the most. My niche target audience goes into a lot more detail and looks at the audiences interests and lifestyle.

Characteristics of my target audience:

• Females aged 15-30
• They will have an interest in films, specifically romance films.
• Some of their hobbies might include: watching films, going out with friends, partying, shopping, dating. Therefore I have taken this into account and tried to include aspects of some of these hobbies in my film so that narrative is relevant and relatable to the audiences lifestyle and therefore they will be more interested and more likely to watch the film. 
• The audience will be likely to either go to secondary school, go to college/university, or be in full-time employment. The age range is fairly wide and therefore the audience will vary on things like education and work, so I haven't focused too largely on this element in the narrative. The characters in the film both go to sixth form so some of the audience may be able to relate to this, however this isn't made that clear in the trailer as I'm not going to film any scenes at school.
• Some of the artists/bands they may like includes: One Direction, Imagine Dragons, Sam Smith, Nicki Minaj, One Republic, Drake, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris, Jessie J etc. However, these are just some artists that have proven to be popular with teenage girls currently and everyone has very varied and individual music taste so again, I haven't focused too much on this in terms of my film. 

Of course the audience for my film isn't just reduced to the demographic described above and I aim to encourage as many people of all different genders and ages to watch my film. The reason I have looked so deeply into my target audience is because it is useful to me to see what interests them and what they enjoy so I can take this into account when creating my trailer. However, I am aware that not all of my target audience will be defined by the characteristics above and therefore I will also aim to make my narrative and characters as relatable as possible to a wider range of people, so that I'm not solely focusing on one highly specific, niche audience alone, because this could therefore risk alienating a broader group of people. 

Basic Narrative Overview

My trailer will follow the stereotypical boy meets girl narrative structure with the main characters being a male and a female protagonist. The characters will be teenagers, around 17 years old and the trailer will attempt to show elements involving the struggle of growing up and the mid-point between  child and adulthood where the characters are trying to discover themselves and what they want to achieve in their lifetime. In showing aspects like this, my trailer will often include drama as a sub-genre, particularly teen drama as it will attempt to display the hardships and also happiness of teenagers as they grow up. Before the female love interest meets the male love interest, she is shown to seem quite sad, lonely and not really sure of what she's doing. However, after the two characters meet her mood and the tone of the trailer completely changes and the female is shown to be much happier and calmer when she is around the male. The beginning shots of the trailer will show the female sat on the swings alone in the park, possibly drinking alcohol and looking fairly lost. The following shots will show the protagonists first meeting and eventually falling in love. The relationship between the two characters will gradually build as they begin to fall in love. Shots of them holding hands and laughing and having fun will be included frequently to display their bond to the audience and provoke interest within the audience as by this point they are rooting for the couple to be/stay together. The female will then look at the male characters mobile phone and see that he has messages on there from other girls, this then makes her think that he has cheated on her and this leads to a huge argument between the characters. However, it is unclear to the audience as to whether he did in fact cheat or not. The film's ending is also left on a cliff hanger at the end of the trailer as the audience will be gripped and full of suspense as they are wanting to find out what will happen and whether the protagonists will stay together or not. I feel that leaving the ending on a cliffhanger is conventional in almost every trailer and is the best technique to use, as it allows the audience to remain interested in the film, if the film ending is given away in the trailer then many people won't see the point in watching the film at all as they know how it ends and feel it is predictable.

Audience Pleasure

The main reason people watch films is because the enjoy it and get pleasure from watching them, different people get pleasure from different styles or genres of film. The aim of my trailer is to promote my film and in order to do this I need to ensure that my target audience get pleasure from watching my trailer so that they therefore will want to watch my whole film. In order to ensure that my target audience get pleasure from watching my trailer I will need to explore certain elements and ensure that popular conventions of the romance genre are used.

The following is a list of things I will look at and attempt to accomplish so that my target audience get pleasure from watching my trailer:

• Iconography: I have already looked at and discovered some iconography relating to the romance genre, such as the main character types being a protagonist male and a protagonist female and the props such as flowers or alcohol (depending on the location). I will research further into romance iconography and make sure that a significant number of the stereotypical romance icons are included in my trailer. 
• Props: Props link to iconography largely but I will ensure I include conventional props associated with and linked to the romance genre such as flowers, alcohol and drugs or presents (from the love interests, for example jewellery given to the female protagonist by the male). These will immediately make the audience interested as they have learned to associate these props with the genre. 
• Narrative structure: My film will trailer will follow one of the two conventional narrative structures stereotyped with the romance genre. Either the 'happily ever after' ending which has proven to give the audience pleasure as the characters are reunited and everything is good and there is an equilibrium. Or the 'tear-jerker, tragic' ending where something devastating happens e.g. death and the characters aren't reunited, these endings have also proven popular within the audience because they are often true boreal life as not everything in life ends perfectly, however I am more likely to go with the first narrative structure as often the target audience of romance films are happier when there is a strong equilibrium at the end. 
• I will look into what shot types and transitions are the most popular in romance films in order to appeal to my audience. I'm likely to use a simple cut transition regularly as this is very conventional in trailers as they almost always use montage editing as a way of promoting the film. 
• Titles: My titles will be written in bright colours, or fairly plain depending on which sub-genre I decide on. Obviously I can't use the star system technique in my titles to promote the actors in my film because I have a small budget and therefore I can't afford to get huge actors to star in my trailer and am using actors my age, local to me. However I will look at other techniques used within the titles in the hope of appealing to the audience. 
• Shot lengths will vary slightly but because I am only creating a trailer, no extremely long shots will be included so the narrative wouldn't be given away and so the audience would remain interested as they are curious and interested because they will only be exposed to clips and not the full plot.

Film Masterclass

 The other day I attended a masterclass with director Simon Hook. Simon Hook has worked on programs such as Hollyoaks and M.I.High and therefore has had a lot of experience with filming and his work has proven to be successful. It was very helpful to receive tips and advice from an expert and I will most likely use many of these tips when I'm filming my own trailer so that it will look more professional. The first image shows the light pointing at the ceiling, this is a way of effectively adding the correct amount of light to the characters. This provides high key lighting and allows the audience to clearly see the characters, however it is not shining directly at them because this would mean that the shot would be too bright and the characters may not be shown clearly. I will consider using this technique in my trailer in shots where the lighting is already good but I just want to light up the characters slightly more without creating any unwanted shadows.

 This picture shows the two actors who volunteered to help Simon demonstrate how to successfully use different shots. The actors had a complete run through of the script before any actual filming was done and each time the camera shot changed the actors would have a run through to make sure stage positioning worked effectively before filming was done, this was a useful technique as it allowed us to instantly see which shots worked and which didn't work so well. Hook used a filming technique where he would film a whole scene with the camera positioned in one place and then refill the whole scene each time with the camera in a different position. This was an interesting technique because often even though some parts of the scene didn't work with the camera positioned in a certain way, other parts worked very well. Also filming in this way means that the scene can be easily edited and transitioned and the best shots in relation to the script, can be used. Simon also told and showed us how dead space can often be very boring in shots and that by slightly moving the camera either upward, downwards or side to side, can remove this dead space and make the shot much more interesting, because it is including much more. Props can also be used in the background to add more to the shot.

We were taught two very helpful techniques about shots and angles. Zooming can often be very shaky and amateur if used as an effect whilst the camera is rolling. Therefore another way close up shots/zooms can be done is by the character walking towards the camera. This technique is called self-tightening. In order to make the characters the same size in over the shoulder shots, you can move the camera backwards and zoom in so the shot is a close up before actually filming. This way the characters are far more accurate in size in comparison to one another.

This masterclass was very beneficial and when I'm filming my own trailer I will definitely consider Simon Hook's advice in relation to the shot types and transitions I use, and also the lighting and positioning of my props.

Props

This post will look at some of the props I could potentially use in my trailer. These props will have to be easy enough for me to get hold of and representative of the genre or the narrative. Also, these props should appeal to the target audience in some way by allowing them to anticipate more about the film or by exciting them by hinting at the narrative slightly.


 Flowers

Flowers are one of, if not the most, common prop used in films of the romance genre. They give connotations of beauty and love which are both stereotyped with romance. Giving flowers as a gift is perceived as romantic and it is almost always the male love interest who gives the flowers to the female love interest as a sign of his love for her and to show him to be gentlemanly and caring. I will most likely include flowers in my trailer at some point or other because they are a well known icon of the romance genre and so will therefore reinforce the genre of the film and hopefully attract a large target audience.

Alcohol and Drugs

Alcohol and drugs aren't necessarily props that are always associated with or iconic of the romance genre. However, they are included in some of them, especially romance films where the stock characters are teenagers. The stock characters in my film will be teenagers who are quite rebellious and like to go out and party with their friends, this is why I am considering including alcohol and drugs as props. Alcohol and drugs are props stereotyped with the teenage/young adult lifestyle and my target audience are also teenagers and young adults therefore including these may attract the target audience to the film because they can relate to the characters.

In terms of health and safety and legality, I will not use any real alcohol or drugs. I won't use any real alcohol as the actors are below the age of 18 and therefore it would be illegal for them to be drinking as they are under the age limit, also drugs such as cocaine and cannabis are illegal in the UK so I will not actually use these but I will use substitutes. For example I could use sugar instead of cocaine, as long as I make sure it is realistic by not showing it that clearly or close up on camera. I could do this in a number of ways such as, using a long shot instead of a close up, making sure there is only low key lighting in the shots including the drug or putting a blurred effect on the camera lens. In terms or alcohol I could use water as a substitute. For example I could use water instead of vodka as both of them are clear.

Costume Ideas for Main Male

Initial costume ideas for main male protagonist: Theo
The main male protagonists costume will be fairly casual and neutral to represent his non-caring personality and his laid back attitude. He will mainly wear jeans, a basic t-shirt and a hoodie, these are all typical items of clothing associated with teenage fashion.

The picture to the left shows an outfit similar to the costume I want the male character, Theo, to wear. Hoodies are often stereotyped with youths as they give conventions of anti-social behaviour because often the hood is used to hide a persons face so they are seen are seen as a threat. Whilst I don't want my character to be seen as a threat, I do want him to be seen as quite rebellious and not conforming to the rules of society so I feel that the hoodie will help represent this. Also, because the hoodie is a casual item of clothing it will help to show that the character isn't that concerned with fashion and is more concerned with going out and having fun. The plain t-shirt will also back up the idea that the character isn't too concerned with his appearance, but isn't the type to wear football shirts or full tracksuits, so it shows he does care a bit.

In terms of hair, I want the character to have his hair styled in a way similar to the picture shown. His costume will show that he doesn't care too much about fashion, however his hair will be styled showing he does still care slightly. When the character is with the female protagonist his hair will be styled neatly like this, showing that he is making an effort to impress her or to try and make her happy. This is conventional of the romance genre as often the love interests dress up or style themselves differently when they are together so that they can impress or attract each other.

The character will wear trainers similar to these in many of the shots. Trainers and jeans follow the conventions of stereotypical teen fashion as they give codes of a laid-back lifestyle. Teenagers aren't often in full time employment and therefore can wear things like this instead of business clothes such a suits and ties, so this shows the characters lifestyle and a bit about his personality, to the audience. Trainers are conventional of sport and therefore this shows that the character is sporty and may exercise frequently, however isn't obsessed with sport or he would be wearing tracksuit bottoms and a sports top. I believe that following this style in terms of Theo's costume, will allow him to be presented to the audience in the correct way. Following popular fashion that is associated with teens currently, should prove effective in attracting  an appropriate target audience as they may be able to relate to the character and will therefore potentially become more interested in watching the film.

Costume Ideas for Main Female

Initial costume ideas for the main female protagonist: Kate

Kate is aged 17 so her age should be represented slightly through her costume. I've decided that Kate's character will have a "grunge" style costume. I want the character to be perceived as quite rebellious and individual by the audience and I think her costume should show this.

The photo to the left shows the hair style I want the character to have. The actress playing Kate has very curly hair naturally anyway so it shouldn't be too hard to achieve. The length of the hair emphasises the characters femininity because long hair gives conventions of beauty and it is always stereotyped with girls more than boys therefore my character will tie in with the stereotype in order to be seen as "girly." However the fact that the hair is big and curly and out of control symbolises the characters wild and rebellious side, both of these are conventions of teenagers as much of the time teenagers are stereotyped as being reckless and 'off the rails' so this might appeal to the target audience as many may be able to relate to the character. This hair style ties in with the 'grunge' look as it isn't too styled and neat instead it has just been scraped back at the front and left.

In terms of the protagonists costume, she will obviously have numerous costumes throughout the trailer, however they will all follow a 'grunge' theme with a hint of femininity. The white laced dress is very feminine and girly to represent that side of the characters personality. It shows that the character does care how she looks and often does make an effort, but she doesn't care too much. Often females in romance films wear pretty dresses to give codes and conventions of beauty and attractiveness, this ties in with the 'princess' type character or the 'popular girl' who is seen to be very fashionable and attractive to many boys. My character will wear a dress to fit in with the type of costume relevant to the genre, however she will wear leather jackets or denim jackets to make the costume more casual and to divert from the typical girly costume type. Leather jackets give connotations of being rebellious and cool so this is why I will include this as part of my characters costume in some parts. This combined with the dress will fit in very well with the grunge fashion type that I want the character to conform to.

I want my character to wear big boots like this because in the past and still nowadays these boots were seen as rebellious and fashionable. These give the character the 'rock and roll' look and they represent her personality of not caring what people think. I would want the character to wear knee high socks or potentially ripped tights with these boots to continue the idea that the character is rebellious and isn't a typical girly girl with a very neat/precise fashion. The dress or skirt combined with these boots and tights will allow the character to look independent and non conforming to the ideas that society perceive to be normal/appropriate, but still show a degree of femininity and reliance when she is with the male love interest. The idea that she will be wearing a dress or skirt in shots with the male love interest will show that she is trying to make an effort to dress nicely for him, however the boots and jacket will show that she is still following her own unique fashion sense. The dress/skirt will be fairly short because this is conventional of teenage fashion sense as they are the age range that are most likely to go out and party wearing short clothes, also many of them won't have full time jobs and therefore can continue to dress how they like. I feel dressing Kate's character in this way will be appealing to the target audience as many of the accessories I have described are in fashion now so a number of teenage girls could potentially relate to Kate, also many of them may have similar opinions and lifestyles to the character and will therefore be attracted to the film.

Location Scouting 6

Park Location

Parks are also locations that are included in romance films quite a lot, they aren't included as regularly as some other locations such as beaches, however they are still used. Parks are used as places where teenagers sometimes 'hang out', for older teenagers they might sit and drink alcohol or do drugs in parks as some parks are quite secluded and therefore they are less likely to get caught. However, parks are often locations stereotyped with children as they are the people that go and play there, so if I used a park in my trailer I'd have to be careful in making sure the location didn't give too many conventions of childhood and playing, because this wouldn't appeal to a teenage/young adult target audience. In order to do this I would potentially only use a park location when it is the evening or the night time because children wouldn't usually be out at this time where as some teenagers might. Parks at night give completely different conventions to parks in the middle of the day. At night they are seen as a 'cool' places to hang out for teenagers, sometimes even gangs, so this would be where the drug element would come into the narrative. In terms of logistics, I live near quite a few different parks so it would be fairly easy to find a park to film in, as long as I pick a good time of the day.

Location Scouting 5

Beach Location

Beaches are locations that are commonly used in romance films. This is because they give codes and conventions of peace and calmness and also beauty which are all things that can be associated with the romance genre. Often romance films include long shots of the two main characters (love interests) strolling up a beach holding hands, this is seen as romantic as they are alone in a nice location and they are happy. Whilst I would very much like to include a beach location in my trailer, I don't know if this will be possible for practical reasons. Neither me or the actors live close to a beach location and therefore in terms of travel and cost I don't know if it would be possible to film there. However it is still useful to look at the beaches as a location and see if they have any similarities to other locations that are perhaps more convenient to get to. 

Grease: 1978 

Mamma Mia: 2008

Here are two examples of romance films that have used beach locations. 'Grease' is a 1978 film featuring high school teens as it's stock characters, 'Mamma Mia' is a 2008 film featuring young adults and adults as it's stock characters. So here we see that beach locations have proven successful throughout the years in terms of romance films, and because of this people have begun to associate the location with the genre.

Location Scouting 4

City Location

 These are examples of some of the pictures I took whilst I was in London for the day. City locations are often very good for romance films as the stock characters are usually young adults, sometimes businessmen and women and therefore they would be likely to live in a city and would also be likely to enjoy the nightlife there e.g. clubs and bars. Also city locations give connotations of higher crime rates and often teenagers are the stock characters of romance films and teenagers and crime are stereotyped together as some people perceive teenagers to be anti-social and dangerous/rebellious. Whilst city locations have proven to be successful in films of the romance genre, so have rural locations. I live in a rural area so in terms of convenience and logistics I think I might stick to more rural/countryside locations. These locations are often quieter and therefore sometimes more romantic and secluded. However they have less going on and give less opportunity to display the conventional 'party lifestyle' associated with teens and young adults. So I will have to think of a way round this to ensure that I still appeal to my target audience and that they can still relate to much of the narrative. Although I will most likely not film in any big city locations, it is useful to see what these include and how they differ from the countryside/village locations I plan to use. I may not be able to use a busy city location however I live fairly close to a busy town so I could consider filming there in order to capture some shots, potentially the nightlife/partying shots.

Another factor I need to consider is the weather, in many of these shots the weather is sunny and it adds natural lighting to the location. However, I will be filming during the winter and therefore the weather will most likely be bad. Wind and rain can effect filming so I will have to plan around this. Also, much of the time it will be cloudy and in some locations this will mean that the shots could possibly be very dark, which may give them the wrong tone for the genre of the film, therefore I will have to consider this carefully and plan precise times during the day that I know the light will be good enough to film in.