Audience Feedback from the target audience

I asked a member of my target audience to look at the trailer so far. I told her that there will be a voice over added so there is no need to comment on this. I needed to know what I needed to add so the audience would be able to understand the storyline and she was very helpful. I will film her suggestion on Wednesday when the actors are available (lets just hope it doesn't snow.) I will need to re-film Gracie running away from Michael as well so that the continuity stays the same. At least my target audience likes the trailer!

I have also had an idea to challenge the voice over conventions. In most trailers there is a mail voice over so I may record myself doing the voice over and see how this fits.

Audience Feedback Analysis

I made an informed decision to carry out some audience feedback during the editing stages of my film. I did this because I wanted to know what was conventional and good about the trailer and what I needed to improve or change. I asked my tutor to sit and watch the trailer on I-movie and note down some good things and improvements that are needed. She did this honestly and it has helped me through the editing process. This research method is a primary research method as I carried it out myself and did not use other resources such as the internet or books.
Advantages

• This method is easily accessible because my tutor was there in the room ready to give me some feedback and the trailer was easily viewed.
• It is also a reliable primary method as my friends did not carry out the feedback so the feedback is unbias.
• I could instantly make changes to my product after the research was carried out and now I feel that my trailer is 'tighter' and more conventional.
• My tutor is obvioulsy very knowledgeable about the subject of media and she could make relevant critical comments.

Disadvantages

• The one disadvantage I can think of when I asked my tutor to carry out the audience feedback was the issue that she is not the target audience to the movie. The movie may not necessarily appeal to people older that teenagers and that subsequently could have affected the feedback. For example people of a younger audience may have liked the opening music to the music and would not necessarily have picked up that it felt like a finale rather than an opening. Having thought about the target audience issue I also thought that I only asked one gender. As I am trying to get both genders to watch my film and make it appeal to all I should have asked both sexes and more than one person. However, I was stuck for time and I feel that my tutor is the best person to ask when in this situation because she was concise and relevant.

Below in the post 'Main filming is complete!' you will find my newly uploaded version of 'A girl next door.' I have used my tutors ideas and re-edited parts of the trailer. I used the majority of her ideas to improve the trailer but kept some things the same as it is my own work.

Keep things simple...

Over the weekend I have studied different trailers so that I can understand how to use music in my own trailer. I have noted down key aspects of music in a romantic comedy trailer:
*The first point I noticed was that in every single romantic comedy trailer the music begins right at the very beginning. This would be so that the target audience is engaged immediately.
*It's best to keep the music simple. For example in the trailer above there is only 4 pieces of music which make up the entire trailer. In my trailer I have chosen the tracks; 'She's so lovely' by Scouting for Girls. 'Just say yes' by Snow Patrol and 'I'm too sexy' by Right Said Fred. I still need to chose another piece for after the comedic dancing.
*The music always stops and then changes after comedic points in the trailer which is what I aim to do. This is so that the comedic parts stick in people's minds and become punchy.
*Finally, the thing that brings everything together is the voice over. I plan to record my voice over this week after editing my trailer. I think as soon as I do this my trailer will be conventional.
So after this research I have decided to make the trailer simple so that it sticks to conventions and really works.

Main filming is complete!

I have completed the main bulk of the filming which will make the trailer. I feel that I need to think of a few more ideas to make the trailer more funny. Over the weekend I shall plan a couple of more scenes to help it fit in with the genre and make the trailer more conventional. After I have done this I can then film on Monday and then begin editing the final piece. I shall also upload a few more trailers to help me specifically with the music of a romantic comedy trailer. This is so I can fully understand the conventions of the music in a rom com trailer.

I am happy with the amount of different camera angles I have used. For example in the scene when Gracie walks in on Justin and Kate Iused a high angle, mid shot to show the control Gracie has in the film as if she is the 'superior' character. I also used a reverse shot when Gracie runs into the toilet to look in the mirror as well as when she leaves the toilet and has loo roll on her shoe. There is use of a panning shot up when Michael is dancing and over the shoulder shots when Justin and Gracie are talking for the first time.

Here is the un-edited version of my trailer:

Audience Feedback

My tutor watched the beginning of my trailer to establish the positive parts to it and the bits I need to improve on. From watching it back she agrees that it is looking like a conventional romantic comedy trailer.
She also commented on the bits I need to tweak to make it even more like a conventional trailer.

• The opening music reminded my tutor of a finale' to a film. I need to chose something more introductory.
• She liked the track 'She's so Lovely' by Scouting For Girls but I should keep it all instrumental and cut the singing out.
• At the beginning it needs to pick up pace instantly so the audience is drawn in immediately and want to see the film.
• I need to make sure I don't cut the actors speech too quickly.
• The final thing is to crop in closer when the actor of Michael is dancing so he is the main focus in the shot.

I now have two weeks to complete the main task and subs and I feel that this will be achievable. I have worked hard on this project and I am happy with the progress I have made from AS to A2.

It's been a week

I have been focusing on editing my film together for the past week and haven't uploaded anything to my blog. When I have finished the montage shots of each character I shall upload them to the blog. Until I get the actor back who plays the nerd this cannot be completed.

Today I am taking photos for my magazine front cover and poster for the film. I plan to use publisher as I know how to use it and I can edit the photos in Iphoto. The pictures should look glossy and professional so I will take them on a white background to highlight the definition.

Font types for the trailer

Whilst editing the trailer together using Imovie I found that the font styles that featured with the programme would not necessarily fit with the Romantic Comedy genre. Therefore I have chosen to download a couple of font styles from the ironically named website fonts.com
I looked at the font styles in different trailers from the genre, here is the one I chose to base my style on:

The image on the right is of the iconic Bridget Jones' Diary poster which has been used before on this blog, but this time I'm focusing on the font. I couldn't get the font straight from the trailer but the colours and style are the same. I like the use of the pink and purple colours which symbolise the femininity of the film and the protagonist. As my film is based around a woman's' story I will use the feminine colours that the director has chosen to use. I like the use of capital letters, it stands out and will be easily read on screen.
Unfortunatly I am unable to upload the font I wish to use in my trailer...so you will just have to wait and see the final outcome.

Decisions, decisions

I filmed some more scenes for my trailer today and I have decided to not add in the extra bit when Gracie and Justin bend down to pick up the folder as I feel it still works without this. Therefore, today I focused heavily on the character of Michael and filmed the scene where he dreams he can win Gracie over by grabbing her attention. I am really happy with this scene and I feel it hits the comedic side of the rom com genre. The music fits well and so does the girls screaming. I still need to edit the dream like state into scene of the dancing.

However I am not happy with the scene of the two girls walking down the corridor and Michael running after them. I think I need to cut this as it takes up too much time and a trailer needs to start getting snappy so the audience are drawn in by the plot and action. I'm going to film a two shot of Justin and Gracie together and Justin asks Gracie on a date. Then a shot of Michael looking disheartened and then it will cut to the scene of him saying 'I just want Gracie back.' This scene will be quicker and will help the audience understand that there are two men after Gracie's affections.

Here is the filming so far, its not completely edited as I need to do more filming first:

Focus on the sub tasks

Whilst I am filming I have also been working on ideas for my poster and magazine cover. Today I will be taking pictures of the 3 main leads. I need to take the pictures on a white background as that seems to be the convention for all romantic comedies as you can see below. I like the 'Definitely Maybe' image as it appears to have the same story line as mine. I am going to get a shot of the protagonist thinking about who she wants. Then have smaller pictures of the main males in the trailer. This poster idea will help with the fact that people have lessons at different times so I can edit all the pictures in together.

The other subsidiary task is to create a film magazine front cover to promote the film I have created a trailer and poster for. There are many different magazines who just simply use there magazine to promote new and upcoming films. These companies include: Flipside, Sight and Sound and Empire Magazine.

Empire Magazine is the most credible out of all 3 and so therefore I shall use some of the key conventions from this front cover style. As you can see this magazine appeals to a more male audience. Especially with the image of Megan Fox topless on the front cover and the thrilling joker image which can be related to a 'boys' film.

From my market research interviews it was stated that I needed to make the romantic comedy genre more appealing to a male audience. I feel I can do this by using the 'Empire' conventions and create a male film magazine advertising the new romantic comedy. Obviously I won't be doing this 'Megan Fox Style' but I can do it in a sophisticated and professional way like when the photographer and editor placed Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom on the front

of 'Empire' magazine to help promote the 'love' sequence in 'Pirates Of the Caribbean.' I do want to make the film appealing for all so will use a one of the males from my trailer and the lead female (for the men).

Filming schedule is up to date

I did some for filming today for the trailer. I filmed the meeting of the two lead characters. Some shots I'm really happy with and others will need to be re-done. The ones I have used in the trailer I am happy with. I need to re film them both bending down to pick up the folder as the continuity didn't flow. In one shot the folder was open in the shot of them bending down the folder was closed. Also I'm not happy with the music. I want the music to fade into the action and play quietly in the background. This can be done on garage band in the next few weeks when I edit it all together. The most important thing is getting the filming done. I aim to have all of this done in the next two weeks. Editing through the filming process has helped me spot continuity errors and I can still re-film with out the shots looking rushed.

More filming...

The next scene in the trailer is the character of Gracie running into the 'hot' guy and paper flying everywhere. After this she goes into the toilets and looks in the mirror and realizes she still has last nights make up on. I plan to shoot this on Friday as both actors who are featuring in this are free and have time to film. We have plenty of time on Friday to make the shots good and I can upload them and see what needs to be made better or re-done.

First Filming

This is the opening sequence of my trailer. It still needs shots editing in such as a close up of the alarm clock and Gracie getting out of bed. I did shoot Gracie getting out of bed during the half term but the shot didn't flow with the rest of the images on screen. I have also left the titles blank due to the fact I haven't thought about which company would distribute the film. I'm not sure whether I should use an independent British film company or a global film company to distribute the trailer. To keep it conventional with other romantic comedies such as 'Bridget Jones Diary' I should use Universal and Studio Canal, however due to the quality of equipment the trailer does look low budget and independent.

I still have a lot more filming left to do and don't have that much time left. However, I am editing the trailer as I go along so that I can see what needs to be re-done, which bits work etc...

I plan to get a close up of the alarm clock tonight whilst it is still bright so that the continuity doesn't break. Other scenes such as the mirror scene and the love triangle developing will be shot later on this week.

I feel that the trailer is finally coming together and that my ideas are innovative and can be done with good effect.