The first thing I chose to focus on was the use of colour. The prominent colour scheme is red, white and blue which are the colours of the Union Jack.
Due to the subtle association of these colours with skinhead groups such as the English Defence League and Britain First, the colours coupled with the film's title indicate to the audience the general thesis of the film.
The general colour palette of the poster is a collection of blue, grey and red hues. Continuing the colours of the union jack, the poster is aesthetically pleasing. Below is a colour chart I made depicting the various hues used.
Mise en Scene
The characters are dressed in stereotypical 'skinhead' outfits - combat boots, bomber jackets and Ben Sherman shirts - giving away details of their character.
High rise flats are in the background of the shot - indicates the film is set in a poor area.
The Tagline
The tagline "Summer 1983. A time to stand out from the crowd." gives away when the film is set.
The notion of standing out from the crowd relates to the mise en scene of the character's costumes and hair/makeup.
Post Production
It is possible that the actors were positioned alongside each other for the photograph, however it is likely that they were placed individually against a green screen in order to be edited onto the background.
Film festivals and award logos are placed horizontally along the top of the poster - they are placed against the blue sky in order to stand out.
The text is placed carefully in order to not obscure any of the buildings or characters.
The film's website address appears on the poster.
Critics' reviews of the film appear at the top of the poster, persuading the audience that the film is worth watching.
Typography
The style of the 'THIS IS ENGLAND' main title is the largest and boldest text on the poster.
The typography is styled as thought it has been painted onto corrugated metal - indicating an urban setting for the film.
The film starts with a time lapse of London from day to night with a voiceover saying 'Times Change'
There are then quick montage scenes of London, concerts, family, police and death up to 0:13 seconds.
Throughout the majority of this trailer there is quick fast paced editing often followed by montages.
After 0:13 seconds, there are scenes violence, death, love , sex, money , family and multiple scenes representing solitude.
The violent/chase scenes are more short montage editing , whereas love and family seem to be more prolonged.
The last scene is the main protagonist looking down, seemingly after a fight with a face full of scratches and once again he is in solitude.
Sound
In the first scene where there is a time lapse of London from day to night, firstly there is a cinematic trailer impact sound, followed by an offscreen, yet diegetic narrative saying 'Times Change'. This goes with the scene is it shows the transition from day to night in London.
The narration then continues, also accompanied by the non-diegetic impact hit, which is synchronous to the scene with the quick cut editing. We then find out this was all a soundbridge at 0:11. At 0:13 seconds uk hip-hop starts playing which comes to an end at 0:24 seconds. This is all part of the tension build and at the second drop UK grime is played at 0:33 seconds. At 0:37 the grime pauses and plays once again at 0:40 when an action scene has started. These stops and starts of the music all contribute to the overall effect and tension of the trailer enticing the audience. From here on, the cinematic 'boom' sound effect starts again synchronous to every new action scene shown.
Typography
The typography is clean and bold and white in all-caps. In other genres like this there would be an overlay in the 'old movie' effect, however in 'Brotherhood' the font itself has the effect of an older movie
Once we decided that the focus of our teaser trailer would be masculinity, we thought it would be vital that we researched this topic to gain an insight into the context of masculinity in today's society.
We created a quick mind map where we stated the initial ideas that came to mind when thinking about the stereotypes that were attached to masculinity:
However, it is clear that these stereotypes can be very damaging to men, especially in today's society, as boys and men strive to fit into this norm which is not necessarily the true attributes of a man. In particular, it is known that the highest suicide rate in the UK is in men aged 40-44 and in fact, suicide is the largest killer of men under 50. Therefore, the trials of men is a topic worth discussion as it is damaging to assume all men may be completely 'strong' and 'tough'.
As this crisis of identity is currently very relevant, it inspired us to create awareness of this within our film we were creating. We aimed to include subtle elements of symbolism throughout our teaser trailer showing some stereotypes attached to men, as well as showing how one could be struggling in there challenge to conform to this norm, represented by our main character, and hint of the consequences of this.
A time lapse is a video technique where the frequency at which the frames are captured is much lower than that used to the sequence. Therefore, when played at a normal speed,time appeared to me moving faster. We replicated this technique by filming a still shot for 10 minutes, then speeding it up during post production to X3000. This gave an effective time lapse shot. The idea behind this was to portray our character to be isolated. He is shown to be amongst a large group of people, yet is still alone.This works well within our teaser trailer as we wanted to show how the trials of the deeply embedded steriotype of masculinity often isolates men from society due to the struggle to conform.
Shown above was the final shot for the timelaspe. This worked well as our actor is framed right in the centre and there people are shown to be passing either side of him,yet still ignoring him. We thought this was a good opportunity to layer the typography on top to ensure the message portrayed is just subtle.
Overall this filming day was very sucessful. We completed all fiming within our time schedual and we were pleased with the result of the shots we captured.
Tzvetan Todorov in 1969 simplified the idea of narrative theory into his own theory of equilibrium to apply t every film. He split this up into five stages called the equilibrium disequilibrium, acknowledgment, the solution an then returning to the equilibrium once again.
The five stages can be summerised into:
1) A state of equilibrium where everything is as it should be in a state of solidarity
2) A disruption of that order by an event that damages the equilibrium
3) A recognition that the disorder has occurred
4) An attempt to create a solution for the disaster and repair the damage of the disruption
5) A return to the new equilibrium where things have been solved
This theory should be able to fit to any film which doesn't have a sequal as this may not necessarily end with and equilibrium.
A film that Todorov's theory fits perfectly with is Avatar:
1) War against Na'vi and Jake Sully is sent to become part of tribe. 2) Hometree is planned to be destroyed. 3) Hometree is destroyed. 4) Jake Sully unites the tribes of Pandora to fight back against the humans. 5) Jake decides to stay in his avatar permanently.
We can use the stages of this theory in our own project when creating a teaser trailer as it is an effective way of portraying a storyline.
Below is some of our personal favourite shots from our trailer:
This shot was a favourite of ours as we were able to show our skills in terms of both camera movement and positioning, with a high angle shot assisted with a tilt.
This shot, although simple, was a big favourite of ours just because of the background overshadowing our protagonist and turning him into a silhouette, suggesting he is overshadowed by society. Therefore, although simple, still with holds symbolic imagery.
We found this shot extremely useful in our trailer as the time lapse effect of it assisted the time lapse effect of our reviews and allowed us to put many one word yet powerful reviews in our trailer, as well as show our skills in post production.
The final favourite of ours was the ending of our trailer. Arguably, the breaking of the fourth wall, the centre framing of our protagonist allowed us to show his importance in the film, as well as put in our typography in this memorable shot for the audience. The waves also, represent freedom and him walking from it suggests his inevitable end to his enclosed, cyclical life.
- Product - needs genre to be easily identifiable
- Placing - released at a good time
- Promotion - strong advertisement - trailer - poster - websites - interviews with actors and directors
- Publicity - reviews - profiles - news coverage
"The marketing campaign plays a vital role in informing potential audience about a film."
Different Locations For Trailer
- Online, cinema, tv, start of DVD, billboards.
- Online - normally search to watch the specific trailer
- Cinema - being fed that information, normally has a similar age rating or genre to the film you are already watching in the cinema.
- Youtube - actively searching for it
- Facebook/Twitter/Various social media - may just come up on news feed
Like Todorov's Narrative theory suggests, stories begin with an equilibrium where any potential opposing forces are in balance, later to be disrupted by an even which will later be solved.
Much like films, teaser and normal trailers also follow this pattern, with a beginning, introductory sequence, problem and solution. It will also be structured around the most appealing aspects of the film, without telling the story line or "taking conventional order into consideration".
A great teaser trailer to show for this is Solo: A Star Wars Story. This shows a strong beginning, middle and end but still leaves ambiguity for the audience.
Three lighting is a common method used in all types of media. It is one of the most simple ways to achieve strong and complete lighting. There are types of lighting used in this technique known as key light, fill light and black light. Sometimes you may not use three lights, if that is the case, if you're only using one that will be the key light, if you're using two lights, the main will be the key light and the other will be fill or backlight.
Key Light
Usually, this is the main and the strongest light. It holds the most influence of the object in the scene. It is place to any see of the camera, to light one side and create a shadow among the other side.
Fill Light
Fill light is the second light placed to the opposite side of the key light. It's use is to fill the shadows made by the key light. To do so it must be softer than the key light, so is usually further away from the object or has more of a flood light effect than the key.
Back Light
Unlike the fill and key, the back light is placed to the rear of the subject. It is used to provide definition around the subject as well as highlight the outlines of it. It does not provide direct lighting for the subject dissimilar to fill and key. By doing so, it creates a more three-dimensional look and removes the subjects from just being part of the background.
Types of Lighting
Hard Light
Hard light is when the source is direct, such as from the sun. It is normally uninterrupted from the source from the subject.
Soft Light
Soft light creates the affect of being around the subject. It often produces weak and less numerous shadows.
Flood
A light not as narrowly focused usually is a broad beam of light with no direction.
Editing is the term used to describe association of shots and the way in which they are put together.
Editing Terms
Match on action
Two shots that match and show continuity of space and time. For example, the opening of a door from behind and then from in the front made to look like one continuous action.
Continuity editing
Creates a sense of realism as time is continuously moving forward. It is the most common use of editing as it does not draw attention to the editing process.
Cross Cutting
When scenes alternate and interweave with each other, normally use to combine
different locations, it builds tension and suspense as it is usually quick paced. (Sometimes known as parallel editing)
Freeze Frame
Stopping a sequence in particular event to focus especially on a specific element.
Jump Cut
A sharp transition in between either a continuous shot to highlight an advance in time or between two similar shots for a sense of uneasiness.
Flashback
A moment in a sequence when an event from previous time prior to the current narrative is shown.
Visual Effects
Used to change previously filmed elements such as removing an object from the scene or vice versa.
Montage Editing
A series of unconnected sequences in order to create an effect with a meaning. Credits The information such as names of actors etc, at the beginning and end of a film.
Cutaways
A short shot that interrupts continuous action with an insert of another action. Such as an object or person followed by a cutback to the original shot.
Shot Reverse Shot
When one character is looking at another (usually off screen) and then the other character is shown looking back.
The uses and gratifications theory is the study of the way the general public consume and react to media. It states that "consumers use the media to satisfy specific needs or desires." Meaning that many people will use social media, such as Twitter, to seek out entertainment along with the finding of information and to communicate with those who have also watched the programme, for example. Or alternatively, to show expression and opinions of a programme. The use of the social media after watching a programme or film, determines the reaction to the media and determine the way it is used.
A typical study of uses and gratifications explores the reasoning behind media consumption coupled with the consequence associated with it. For example, a strong example to use is the use of Twitter during the Britain's Got Talent live final. Many will often tweet their thoughts on each act and interact with others, doing the same thing. It has been identified that this media consumption is done for many purposes, including, relaxation, social communication and entertainment.
As seen in the spider diagram above, much thought went into the tagline so we can accentuate the meaning behind our film and persuade people to go see it as much as possible. After much discussion, we were able to get our ideas down to six, we then went through and evaluated each one by asking people (not involved with our film) what they thought about each one. Majority of our feedback is that the ambiguous ones created a fearful atmosphere linking the horror genre, to our film which was not what we wanted for our social realist film. Also, a couple were labelled as too personal to the character, as it was a theme we wanted all men to relate to, so therefore, we realised using the lexis "his", separated the character from the audience and making it less relatable. After much deliberation amongst our groups and with outside individuals, we came to the decision that "Under The Skin", would be the best to go for. This is because it is not too ambiguous so gives some direction, it also helps to build a relationship between the viewer and the protagonist, making it more relatable, and something that all could feel.
The main image is in black and white, perhaps portraying the poor quality of life they have. Or arguably, perhaps how essentially everyone in that class or group in society has the same inevitable end. Or perhaps, suggests that you may see them as black and white characters, but they are all much more than that and are in fact products of a negative system etc.
The film typography is in white and bold then placed on a bright coloured background, helps make it the focal point of the poster, so people remember the name of the film, and therefore go and see it.
The small white font of the extra information does not distract the audience from the main point of the poster, although the more fundamental bits are ini colour to make the stand out so the audience will read.
The film review is the second largest piece of typography on the poster, therefore, usually making the audience read it either first (as it is at the top) or second after the title (as it is bigger and completely colour blocked). It also draws attention to the review of 5 stars that it was given. The phrase, "Hollywood come in...your time is up" will interest the reader greatly, as arguably, it is challenging the Hollywood box office (biggest box office in the world) and therefore, will ensure the audience that it is a very good film.
There is no tagline leaving the audience to be even more intrigued by the film and wonder more what it's about from the extremely eye catching review.
The characters are all posing in ways that reflect their personalities, giving some subtly insights to the film, allowing an earlier connection from the audience.
The actors names are not visible but the characters are, perhaps creating a more connectable and life like sense to the characters, suggesting that this really can happen to anyone. The ranking used is extremely ambiguous, after watching the film, it still does not become clear as to what the ranking means, but it leaves something for the audience to think about.
The colour palette of the poster is very plain and the only colour being the one blocked behind to highlight the typography and the names of the characters and very important information, maybe to draw attention and highlight the importance of these bits of the poster.
The concept of the two characters being fuzzed out on the left, maybe suggests their relevance to the "heroin" epidemic amongst the film, as these are the two that do not get involved. Perhaps suggesting, that once getting caught up in heroin, you will only end up with people who do heroin, highlighting the cyclical nature of it.
