Trailer.

After I have finished editing the trailer, I am now going to talk about what I have done, why I have done it and whether or not it works.


The trailer starts off with the BBFC certificate screening, letting the audience know what the trailer is going to show, which age group it is targeting and elements that may offend certain spectators. Adding certificate screenings are absolutely essential as the consumer needs to know what the trailer will show. If this simple rule was ignored, severe consequences could potentially be faced. Because our target audience will fall into the 18-40 category, this trailer would likely be shown at night (Vampire Diaries are on at 9pm due to scenes that could affect adolescences). We achieved this by using Photoshop. This was a simple task that was not challenging and completed within a few minutes.

After the BBFC certificate screening, the trailer moves onto the studio and production labels, showing the audience which company the trailer/film is funded by. Studio and production labels can give the audience a rough guess as to whether it would be a good film, due to the studio/production labels’ reputation. We did not use an existing one as we wanted to challenge ourselves with a new task and we also did not want to conform to the typical films the companies fund. When making our studio and production labels, we also kept to the black and white colour scheme to make it consistent and recognisable. During the shots of the BBFC certificate screening and the Willow Tree Studios label, non-diegetic music plays in the background, establishing a mood for the spectator. The non-diegetic music is extracted from Garage Band that we produced. The soundtrack is upbeat and catchy, creating a content atmosphere.

As the trailer starts, an establishing shot of the Millennium Bridge in London is shown so the spectator will know where the action is taking place. This decision was intended to make it clear that the film/trailer is set in Britain, therefore confirming that it is going to be a British Crime & Gangster film. This decision was also made when it came to editing our film posters and magazine covers (we used the London Bridge in the background). In this shot, the spectator can see a bright view of London. The spectator is able to see people walking over the bridge and a boat passing on the water. When I was editing the trailer, I sped up the shot to make the spectator think that he/she has been standing there for a while watching the people/boat pass by. I did this by clicking on ‘Modify’ from the toolbar on Final Cut Express and selected ‘Speed’. I had to redo this shot a few times as I didn’t feel the shot was fast enough, making it look amateur like. I thought the outcome was great as it is not a typical effect people would use at A level so being able to challenge myself, was quite an enjoyable task. I also thought this worked well as it is an effective method to show time passing quickly, which creates an authentic feel.

‘5 MEN 1 JOURNEY’ is then shown after the establishing shot. We decided as a group to include text as it gives the trailer a storyline to it, making it easier for the spectator to have a slight understanding on what this particular film has to offer. Another reason as to why we decided to do this because from our research and knowledge, gangster trailers usually use texts or voiceovers to help the audience  as gangster films have many twists with complex narratives. However, we had to make sure that we did not give too much away as we wanted to lure the spectator into watching our made product instead of them knowing what the film is going to be about before they have even seen the film. When producing this text, we could not decide whether we wanted ‘5 MEN 1 MISSION’, ‘5 MEN 1 ADVENTURE’ or our chosen one. We came to this decision that ‘Journey’ would be a better and safer option because the word ‘mission’ would reveal too much of our storyline, however we did bear in mind that the word ‘mission’ went well with the word ‘men’ as there is alliteration, adding emphasis on the letter ‘m’. This would easily stick to the spectator’s head which is what we were aiming for, however the word mission sounded a bit too deceiving as we thought it would make the film sound like a spy/agent film. We decided to go against ‘Adventure’ quickly as most films have adventurous scenes and it also slightly makes the film trailer lend itself to a Western/adventure film, which was not what we were aiming for. This was because our target audience may not be interested as certain age groups find the Western/adventure genre particularly dull and boring. I think our chosen text worked out well as it does not reveal too much yet it gives the spectator a rough idea of what is going to happen. We were really fond of using Journey as it is fairly symbolic. We agreed that journey was a good term as we follow the characters through their journey, fighting, working, killing, drinking and so on.
After deciding on what we wanted to portray, we then decided on the font/style. We chose to keep the font rather simple as it would be clear for the spectator to read, we did not want any fancy writing or colour as it challenges the typical conventions of a gangster genre and because the trailer will be short, making the font plain would make it less stressful for the spectator to work out what it is saying. We also chose to use white font to contrast with the black background, making the text stand out even more. I thought this worked well as the text would be legible instead of forcing the spectator figuring out what the text is saying, and by sticking to our chosen colour scheme, it would be identifiable and professional. If you look into the font in more depth, you would also notice that black connotes darkness, evilness and immorality which contrast the innocence, purity and softness of the colour white. This makes our genre more recognisable as it is like the good vs. evil (Claude Levi-Strauss’ theory).

After the text, the next scene is of the characters walking simultaneously towards the camera. We gained this idea from ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘This is England’. I found this shot effective and worked out well just as planned. The spectator is able to identify who the leader is and who the followers are; this immediately creates authority within the group of characters. We decided to shoot this scene in a deprived and run-down location, forcing the spectator to notice the characters standing out tremendously. When we were filming this scene, we did have to shoot this a few times because we wanted perfection. Although the other filmed shots were not that bad, a couple of characters were slightly hidden and it did not look symmetrical. Whilst I was editing, I noticed that this shot was rather long; challenging the typical gangster trailers we have come across, which are faced paced editing used to intensify the pictures. Although it was fairly stressful as to whether we wanted to keep it as it is or keep it short and snappy, I insisted we have it in slow motion half way through. My reasoning behind this was that it is different and unique, showing our valour. I also decided to use Light Rays midway through to make the slow motion blend. I thought this shot worked out perfectly because not only does it fit in with the slow music (Beast in Me), I also like how the characters’ faces are obscured by the glow when they are coming closer to the screen, making them look distorted and sinister as the spectator is not able to see what they look like. I gained this inspiration from the poster of Reservoir Dogs’; however they used sunglasses to conceal their identity. I decided to use a different approach to portray something similar as I wanted to challenge the typical conventions instead of conforming to them, allowing my ability and creativity to reveal new ideas. After this was rendered, some did not agree with my decision as they thought the shot was too long, which does not conform to usual gangster trailers. However, I managed to argue my way out of it and teachers agreed with me, allowing the others to think over it again and appreciate it. The use of the glow helped to fade into the main character’s shirt, making the next show blend and flow.

Here is another shot of a piece of text to help tell a rough outline of the story. We used the same font we had for ‘5 men 1 journey’ to show consistency. By using text to tell the story instead of voiceovers/commentary, I decided to use non-diegetic music to play throughout the trailer without a single diegetic sound to be heard. My reasoning behind this is that I watched a lot of A level trailers on YouTube to gain inspiration and ideas and I found that most voiceovers sounded too junior and unprofessional, making their work look tacky. Another reason is that not many trailers use just music throughout the whole trailer and my group and I have always wanted our work to look unique and striking. I decided to divide the quote ‘When morals decline and good men do nothing, evil flourishes’ and put shots between them so the audience will know there is continuity and it will encourage the audience to look out for the next part of the text and piece together what the quote is trying to imply and what the film will have to offer. Another reason as to why I didn’t want the quote to be in one single shot, because it is a fairly long quote and it would be hard for the audience to read in time. I think that by dissecting the quote is effective as it is done in mainstream film trailers and it has proven that it works. We used this quote because it was said by an FBI named J. Edgar Hoover who specialises in arresting gangsters. He was a controversial character and was criticised by many.  This quote is unquestionably effective as it links perfectly well with our genre, theme and the messages, because this quote was said by an actual FBI aiming at gangsters, making our crime and gangster genre even more palpable.

The next shot is a ground shot focusing on a character’s feet. We achieved this shot by placing the camera on our friend’s rooftop and we also had to lay on the floor so we could see what we were filming. This was easy to film as we only had to line the camera up and straight so the shot would look steady. We chose this type of shot as it shows a range of different camera angles and also because it creates a sense of mystery as to who that character is. We did not track or pan the character walking off as the camera would be all jittery making the scene look tacky. We were not able to attach the tripod to the camera as the best angle was when the camera was on the rooftop, therefore we decided to keep it still. I think this was very effective as you watch the character walk off and it makes the audience want to look and follow but is not able to. I think the choice of location was interesting as it looks like the character is at a deserted area by himself. This creates a sense of enigma and the audience will begin to think Why is he there? How did he get there? What is he doing there? Where is he? I did not add any special effects onto this shot as I feel that the shot is effective enough and by adding things onto it, it would ruin the shot. The shot is also too short to add any flashy effects, therefore I only used ‘Additive Dissolve’ to blend in the shot with the others. 

The shot after the ground shot is my favourite shot. This shot is of one of the gang member stamping viscously and mentally. Although this shot is very dark compared to the rest of the shots, it was intentional. I filmed this in an abandoned room at a school with the character shown in that shot. At first, the room had a lot of books, props and light and to not have any shown in the shot, we had to move everything. To block most of the light, the character in the shot and I used cardboard to cover most of the windows, allowing a shaft of light to beam through so the audience can see what is happening, but not too clearly. I gained this inspiration from the film ‘Drive’ where Ryan Gosling stamps on a man’s head in the lift till it is literally squashed and unable to identify that it was once a head. I filmed this shot several times from different angles so I could choose the best one when I watch them over on the school computer screen. The way in which it is so dark and the room is so small, it limits what the audience can see, immediately creating a sense of claustrophobia, fear and suspense. The reason why I did not use another character to be the ‘stamped on’ victim was because I wanted to create mystery; I wanted the audience to figure out who he might be standing on so they are able to talk about it after the trailer. If trailers are able to make the audience talk about it, it would help publicise the film greatly. Another reason as to why I did not have a victim in it was because we had to refer back to the BBFC certificate screening we made, meaning we had to be careful what we were showing and how much violence was being shown due to the fact that the trailer is supposed to be suitable for all audiences. I was able to achieve this still shot by using a tripod and tilting the camera slightly upwards, the reason why I wanted a low angle shot was because it makes the character look superior and strong, emphasising on his violent behaviour and actions. This scene has a lot of typical conventions of a crime and gangster film which will target the audience effectively. The location is also a typical location in violent films as it looks neglected, disused and trapped room. Because this shot is fairly long and I am very fond of it, I thought of an idea which I was hoping would work. I added a slow motion effect, like the opening scene of the characters walking through an alley way, midway to add effect on his actions. With the song being ‘Beast in Me’, it makes the character come across psychotic and I noticed that this particular scene shows one of Stanley Kubrick’s main themes; man’s inhumanity to man. This scene shows that violence is ubiquitous and uncontrollable and the song links with the theme and it shows that there is always that part of the human nature that is unstoppable and inevitable. My decision of adding a slow motion effect on it midway through has worked really well because not only does it challenge the usual conventions and forces the audience to observe every step of his action, it also matches perfectly with the rhythm and tone of the song. A member have said that she would place the camera on the floor with the character stamping on the camera making it as if it is from the victim’s point of view. I did not agree because not only do we have limited skills, it is hard to stamp on air and make sure the camera does not get broken.

The next shot is of our main character sitting on a chair drenched in blood holding a bat that he has used not long ago. I put this after the shot of the other character stamping so it would make the audience think as to whether it was the main character he was stamping on and whether the boss has killed him in the end, or whether it is just a completely random order of shots. We deliberately chose to have Tony Don Milano to wear an unbuttoned shirt and vest top. We chose the colour white because white connotes purity, innocence and sanity and the way in which it is stained by red, it means that the sane side of him no longer exists. He is not wearing his suit to show that he is not doing business and wearing a vest top reflects his masculinity, allowing the audience to see the character’s alter ego. We used a mid-shot for this but slightly towards the side, again to show a different angle. We did not use a long shot as we wanted to force the audience to focus on the blood on his clothes and head. The blood was the main focus of this shot and not the weapon, therefore the bat is only visible at the bottom of the screen with the main character positioned at the centre. At first, we experimented with a side profile shot but it did not work as effectively as the one shown above because it did not allow the audience to have a clear view of Jimmy’s facial expression and blood. I am happy with this shot as it conforms to a typical gangster convention, making it clear to our target audience that there will be brutal scenes in the film. When we were filming this shot, we made the clip long (like all others) so we could edit it. When I was editing this shot, my group and I all agreed that the shot was too long, challenging the usual short, snappy shots in gangster trailers, therefore I shortened it. Although I like this shot as it is memorable, I have only one criticism. If I had another chance to shoot this shot again, I would prefer it to be set at night, making the main character look even more sinister and dark, blending with the darkness engulfing him.

Another shot I like is the boot scene, an inspiration from the film Snatch. We achieved this shot by placing the camera literally inside the boot and we held the camera tilting it upwards creating a low angle shot and a point of view shot. A low angle shot encourages the audience to believe that the four characters standing are fierce, powerful and dominant, and it also creates authority within the gang. This forces the audience to look up at them without awareness, and it also makes us feel unconsciously uncomfortable. A point of view shot in this scene creates suspense and mystery, keeping the audience wondering what or who is in the boot, making them want to watch the film in order to fulfil the obscurities. Personally, I think this shot really conforms to a stereotypical crime and gangster film because the gangsters do not usually do their dirty work in public so by hiding it in the boot, makes it believable that they are gangsters. Another shot to prove gangsters do not do their illegal business in public is the scene where one of the characters is stamping in a small abandoned room. This also makes the gangsters look mysterious and undoubtedly malevolent. If you look at the shot, you can see that we have attempted to relate it back to the title Grow Your Own with our main character holding a shovel. This shot is unforgettable as it foreshadows events which would take place in the film, e.g. you are aware that there were once 5 of them but now there are 4, so where is the other one? In the boot? Or is it another person? Or is it just a random object, so the scene is just deliberately trying to create some tension? When I was editing this shot, I noticed that there was a football team’s logo on my boyfriend’s boot window. I immediately knew that I could not leave it to be seen or noticeable otherwise it would look tacky and unprofessional. Therefore, to solve this problem, I carefully cut the shot till the logo was completely visible. However, once that was done, I also noticed that if I put an Additive Dissolve after the shot before the logo is seen, I could also fade it to black making it seem as though the boot has been shut so everything would turn to black, making the next shot flow with the film title shot afterwards. Fortunately, the background colour of the film title was black making the shots blend really well. I deliberately put this shot as the last shot before the title was because it is the only shot that creates a strong sense of suspense and mystery, luring the audience by giving them a little teaser shot of the film. The audience feedback proved that this decision was effective as many commented on that particular shot and wanted to know what was in that boot.

Here is our film title. Initially we had the font in white rather than red so we kept the consistency of colour but a teacher commented that it just looked like it was part of the text to tell the storyline and she found it hard to distinguish the difference between the quote and the title, therefore a slight change was needed. To do this, LiveType was needed again. Ella offered to change it to red as I had to edit still so by helping each other and dividing the tasks, it made our working progress speed up. We chose to use the colour red as it has strong connotations of blood and violence. At first, we thought that changing the font to red was simple and wouldn’t take long to change but however, it proved us wrong. Not only was it hard to find a strong shade of red, the font ended up having splashes of red on the white font making it look playful which was not the outcome we wanted to achieve. We then tried different effects and techniques and when we clicked play to watch the effect, we noticed that the font started off white but started to redden into the colour we were hoping for. Originally, I wasn’t too keen on it but when I watched it a few more times to decide on whether I like it or not, I was really amazed how it looked as if the innocence and the sanity was getting obscured by death and blood. The font looked as though it was bleeding which links in really well with our genre. I also think that the font is like the main character when he was wearing white clothes drenched in (fake) blood. This makes the character stand out more and encourages the audience to follow him through his journey and watch him slowly turn insane. I am very pleased with this title as it is easily noticeable that it is dissimilar to the other texts as it is in a different colour with a special effect on it. It also has a link between our film magazine and poster as the colour red is very present in those too, making our colour scheme consistent and our genre/theme clear.

This is the final shot before the billing block. I have chosen this shot to be the final one as I think it has a lot of meanings to it. We gained inspiration for this shot from the film This is England where Shaun looks directly at the camera, creating a direct address. We decided to copy this technique as it allows the audience to observe his full facial expressions; anger, seriousness and confusion. I like the way blood is smeared all over a half of his face, leaving the other clean. This suggests how he is half sane, and half insane creating a frightful effect on the audience. I gained inspiration for this shot from the film Coriolanus. By using a close up shot, it forces the audience to look at the character’s face as it covers most of the screen, emphasising on his dominating presence and impression to the audience, making the audience feel almost vulnerable and afraid. The close up shot was also used to show a variation of shots as well so the trailer would not look boring and to show that our work is an A level piece of work. I decided to put this after the title and make it short as I wanted it to be unexpected and leave the audience a strong image for them to remember and wonder why he has so much blood on him.

Overall, I found the whole editing process very rewarding after watching the polished trailer on the big screen as I feel that I have gained a far more adept knowledge with Final Cut Express. The amount of time and effort I have put into this, the good feedback we gained as a group was gratifying and I am able to take pride of what I have done. However, I did make sure that I had all of my group members’ help and criticism so all of the decisions from me were agreed on and liked. I cannot doubt that it was stressful at times because there were times when I was really anxious, but I managed to motivate myself as I relish the challenge and wanted to get the best out of what I can actually do.