Chosen Brief & Market Research

The Migrain Model

Media / Medium - This is what the media product is for example; Newspaper, Magazine, Film or in my case Teaser Trailer. The aim of a teaser trailer is to advertise a film with out giving too much of the storyline away to the audience enticing them to see it.

Ideology - The attitudes, ideas, values or beliefs of people. In my trailer i hope to show some of these, perhaps the attitudes of different people in the same situation etc.

Genre - The theme of which the product is following, for example the genre i am following is Horror/ Thriller.

Representation - The ways in which the media puts across or portrays peoples ideas or views etc. For example in my film i would like the girls to be represented as vulnerable which is very stereotypical but is common in everyday life. So the way in which i am going to do this is by using different camera angles and where they are/ what they're doing. Kind of doing what a film producer does, they use different ways to represent characters to determine the way the audience sees them.

Audience - The people who are going to be looking at the product or the people you aim to interest, so for me i am aiming my Teaser Trailer at teenagers ranging from 15-19 year olds, as when i did my Survey i found my ideas would be more appealing to these ages.

Institution - The company that produce or distribute the product. In my case i would be looking at companies like Twisted Pictures , Lionsgate , Columbia Tristar or New Line Cinema etc.

Narrative - This is basically the storyline of the ideas behind the product. For my teaser trailer i have a basic storyline with a twist but as it isn't a theatrical trailer it doesn't give too much away.

Questionnaire Results/ Market Research

Before i started doing anything i decided to do some market research, which has helped me decide which genre i would like to do.I chose one which was more appealing to my target audience which ranges from 15-19 year olds. So here are the results ....

1) What movie genre do you prefer to watch?
Romantic Comedy - 7, Action - 10, Horror - 13 , Sci-Fi-O

2) Do you like films that get you thinking about whats going to happen next ?
Yes - 18, No - 12

3) Do you prefer Action Horror or more Psychological Horror?
Action Horror - 15, Psychological Horror - 15

4) When watching movie trailers, do you prefer those that don't give too much away or those that give you a taster of the movie ?

Don't give too much away - 20, Taster of the Movie - 10

5) Do you prefer a gruesome sort of film or one which just plays with the mind ?
Gruesome - 14, Plays with the mind - 16

6) Do you prefer movies which has a twist?

Yes - 25, No-5

Looking at my results i have recieved from my target audience it has given me a rough idea about what i should include in my movie trailer to make it successful with my chosen market. So i have concluded that the majority of people prefer the horror movie genre which is the genre i was hoping to use. They also said that they prefered films leaving you wondering what is going to happen next but an equal amount said they prefered both psychological and action horrors. So i am aiming to use both elements in my work, as well as trying to create a trailer which plays with the audience mind by giving it a twist.



My Chosen Brief

I have chosen to follow the Film Trailer Brief, combining it with a Website and poster. To begin with I have started throwing a few ideas around as to which genre I wish to follow and have decided that following the conventions of a Horror movie trailer will be the most productive and provoke the best ideas i have made.

There is a market for another horror film as long as we make it innovative and original. I need a unique selling point to attract as big a audience as I can by being different from every other horror film; this could be using no special effects and recording it using a hand-held camera which would add to the realism of my film - making it scarier for viewers.

Having shortlisted a set of trailers within the genre including Eden Lake, Blair Witch Project, Sleepy Hollow, Mirrors, Friday the 13th and The Exorcist which I will analyse over the coming posts to get an idea of what the market already has to offer. Most importantly I came up with a list of common ideas and conventions used:

- Transitions always fading to black
- Use of Crosses
- Darkness and Shadows
- Slow establishing cuts followed by very fast action cuts
- Water and reflections
- Blood

I aim to include some of these codes for Horror when developing my film; however I still need to develop my general storyline, not only for the trailer but more importantly for the whole film as then i hope to develop a trailer around this.

Lauren :)