Short film analysis 

Pre-production

• Script making- Everyone helped to think of our script
• Storyboard-we used this to help plan out what our film should look like
• Location planning
• Casting
• research
• Script read-through with cast- we practiced the lines so we know what is happening during the real recording 
• Special effects preparation - during the shooting scene, our actor pretended to get shot knowing we will add effects after
• Prop preparation- Bag/money

Production

• Shooting 
• Camera man

Post- production

• Editing: we added black bars to give our film a more cinematic look
• Sound effects- we added gun shots
• Colour grading- we darkened the shadows slightly and increased the contrast very slightly
• Cutaways- we cut off parts of certain clips to 
• Soundtrack- we added songs that helped suit an atmosphere when needed eg music that builds suspense and action music

EBI? What have you learnt?

• More time is needed to make everything more perfect and to redo certain scenes if needed
• It is important to know how to use the camera for the film to look better eg certain parts not in focus properly
• The sound was very windy at the start and characters audio wasn't clear so to help with this a microphone which is quite windproof would be needed. However if this is something that cant be used changing the location to somewhere such as indoors could also be another option.

Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg, 1998)

Pre-production and mise-en-scène

From the sequence and magazine, we see how the Spielberg’s concept was to represent the Omaho beach landing in a convincing authentic style. Spielberg and his production crew were unable to use Omaha Beach itself so they used Beach in Wexford, Ireland instead. This place was chosen as it was the most silmilar thing to Omaha. This is known as mise-en-scène. At Omaha many things that were included were things such as the multiple trenches along the beach, the laying of barbed wire fences, sandbag gun encampments as well as the construction of heavily fortified concrete gun turrets. Obviously, none of these existed on the Beach in Irelandand each had to be hand-built by the production crew at the actual location. Finally to keep the war like atmosphere and maintain a historic reality Spielberg wanted the production designers to have the same vehicles as those used in the actual Normandy landing. These were eventually sourced from around the world: two were brought from Burtonport, Donegal to Ballinesker Beach while another two were shipped from Southampton, England.

Production

During the production there were also many things involved that helped to acheive the old war like look. Sceens were shot in tight and intimate close-ups showing us the terror of the soldiers. While their costumes and props all signify power and authority, their actions some how some tremble in fear. In a terrifyingly quick and brutal real-time sequence, his many men are almost instantly killed as the craft's landing bay door drops and the German defences open fire. In this quick succession of medium and close-up shots the audience is witness to the intense horror of war

As Miller drags himself through the waves towards one of the many hedgehogs that defend the beach, the film is steadily overcranked. Overcranking is a technique whereby the unexposed film stock is moved past the open shutter at a speed much faster than normal. When played back at the standard speed the action it has recorded appears to move in slow motion. The effect of this technique is, quite literally, to slow the recorded movement down in order to allow the audience to see virtually every single detail of the unfolding action.

Post production

Editing is used to show and illustrate the war. The sequence continues to unfold in slow motion and is constructed around a pattern of cutaways. Sound effects are also very usefull. The sequence ends with a close-up of a soldier looking directly into the camera and mouthing the words 'What now sir?' as the sharp whistle of a falling mortar is heard in the background. This whistling acts as a sound bridge over the cut back to the close-up of Miller. He stares blankly into the camera as the whistling gets louder until the mortar lands, the sound of its explosion 'knocking' Miller back into the violent reality of his situation. The soundtrack had many sounds, including constant gunfire, the sharp 'whizz' of the tracer bullets, the 'crack' of bullets, soldiers shouting orders or screaming for their mothers, the dull 'thud' of explosions and the equally constant sound of waves crashing upon the shore. All these sound effects are layered together to create a soundscape of violent and relentless combat.

Consider these trailers:

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 ( Lawrence, 2014)

#What conventions do the trailers follow? Are any conventions subverted?

Best Bits: actions parts/ explosions / people fighting

Genre: sci fi

Key conversations between characters: 'its the things we love most that destroy us', 'i never wanted to be in the games, i just wanted to save my sister/

Title: The title 'Hunger Games' does not appear until the end

Dramatic camera angles: camera shots of locations, the special effects used are shown 

Music: starts of with slow music to create drama and then builds up to build suspense, the hunger games theme tune is used at the end

Who is the target audience?

HG franchise is attempting to be somewhat gender neutral. It stars a female character obviously but much of the content of the books appears to involve violent competition, which  appeals more to males. This means its target audience are aimed towards both genders and also is targeted towards 

How has the distributor targeted this?

What is your personal response to the trailers?

I think this trailer is very well layed out however i feel as if i already know what would happen in the film. Many good parts were shown and there is nothing that makes me really want to watch this film. Otherwise i think the music suited well and that the special effects used looks realistic. I was able to recognise the theme tune

Spectre (Mendes, 2015)

What conventions do the trailers follow? Are any conventions subverted?

Best Bits: the action parts and scenes withe explosions, scenes taht add to storyline

Genre: action

Key conversations between characters: 'your a kite dancing in a hurrincane'

Title: The title 'Spectre' does not appear until the end

Dramatic camera angles: camera shots of locations, lots of movement during action scenes 

Music: Background music/instrumental plays during the trailer to help build suspense and create an atmosphere and make the trailer sound more live than empty and also James bond theme tune is played at the end

Who is the target audience?

Primary audience is male, around the age of a young adult to mid-40s. The Bond movies are rated PG-13 nowadays meaning target audience is from 13 and above

3.How has the distributor targeted this?

4.What is your personal response to the trailers?

I personally enjoy the trailer and think it attracts the audience as it builds suspense with the use of music and contained many action parts which i also enjoy. The trailer itself did not spoil anything as it only shows things that makes you want to know the answer to and therefore watch the film itself.

'Sixteen' trailer

The Conventions

Best Bits: The trailer shows a stabbing and many other fighting parts that include violence

Genre: Thriller

Key conversations between characters: 'Have you ever held gun at a mans face', 'I might not be much of a mother but im all you got'


Title: The title 'Sixteen' does not appear until the end


Dramatic camera angles: camera focuses on the gun makes the scene dramatic


Music: Backround music/istrumental plays during the trailer to help build suspense and create an atmosphere and make the trailer sound more live than empty


Target audience: teenagers

'suffragette' trailer

The Conventions

Best Bits: actions scenes showing how mown fight back



Genre:drama

Key conversations between characters: 'what would the vote do for you, 'done what men told me', never underestimate the power we woman have to define our own destinies' , 'you cant stop us all'


Title: appears in the end


Dramatic camera angles: showing explosions and action from all angles/ close up shots and distance shots

Music: sad music/builds up suspense as music builds up

Target audience: Women/young women