Planning

Before I began the construction of my A2 level courswork in the form of a Promotional fim package consisting of a teaser trailer, film magazine front cover and film poster, I had to plan many aspects so that it could be successfully executed and to a realistic degree. For example I created a storyboard showing the shots in the trailer, and also a flat plan of my magazine cover and poster.

Plot synopsis

The aim of a synopsis is to give an overview of the film genre and general plot, and also give an indication of how professional and high quality the product is; therefore I would identify any famous, successful and popular actors/actresses that are starring in the feature. The potential audience will recognize the actor/actress from other films and perhaps be persuaded to watch the film due to a liking or loyalty to said actors, or even directors. I would also include a general storyline, with no specific plot references, as a synopsis with too detailed a storyline could either make the actual film a disappointment as all the key twists have already been revealed, or the viewer may feel that they have already seen the film as the synopsis is so detailed. I would exclude all significant plot twists and the ending of the film, again to prevent the film from being a disappointment. I would include a title, release date and website address to provide more information.

A string of murders occur a short while after the very citizens that a band of heroes were trying to protect, turn on them and have this band of vigilante crime fighters locked up in specially constructed facilities. However, the story does not end here. Humanities most prominent civilian leaders are revealed as having corrupt civilian backgrounds, and are responsible for the imprisonment of these heroes as they were close to discovering the roots of the city's most influential criminals. One by one, they are being stalked and slain by an unknown vigilante who alone knows the truth. Are they being held responsible for the penalties they so harshly inflicted upon the peoples own champions? Throughout the film, the story is constantly dogged by a go getter reporter, who is struggling at her low level journalism internship with the skill and tenacity to go far in the reporting world. The heroes manage to come in contact with the vigilante and organize a breakout, leading to a mass cleansing of crime throughout the city. However this victory comes at a bitter price as the vigilante is unmasked and slain in a fierce clash with the forces of evil in order to recover the kidnapped reporter who has fallen foul of the organized criminals. This vigilante is discovered to have been an ex hero of the golden days of crime fighting. It is revealed in a post mortem examination that he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, which makes the loss easier to bear as he met his demise on his own terms, not at the hands of a wasting illness. Starring Anthony Hopkins as the vigilante, and Zooey Deschanel as the reporter. Dialogue/Voiceover

Voice-over –

First section – 00.05 – 00.14

In a time where heroes are villains..

And villains are heroes..

Only one man can bring justice

Second section – 00.48 – 00.58

Only one hero will remain in the shadows

To avenge the heroes the people scorned

And redeem himself

Final Title – The Revenger

Dialogue:

Shot 3: Muffled dialogue from captive

Shot 7: “Tell me who you work for!”

Shot 8: “we have incarcerated these vigilante criminals as a symbol of the zero tolerance that this city takes when dealing with those civilians that decide to take the law into their own hands.”

Shot 17: “The unjust will be punished”

Shot 18: Title – The Revenger”

Shot list

Shot 1 – Universal studios logo

Shot 2 – Establishing shot –time lapse of cars, reveals setting as urban, at night, which reinforces thriller genre

Shot 3 – Hooded figure in front of bright lights. This shot reinforces the genre the most in my opinion, as it adds a definite conflict factor to the plot. The fact that the figure is hooded and bound shows the viewer a very serious, thriller side to the product.

Shot 4 – Dark tunnel – shadowy figure. This shot connotes enigma, and intrigue, by keeping the identity of the figure unknown. It also reinforces the thriller genre with low lighting, and mystery.

Shot 5 – Fast shot of the moon – shows time passing, and is continuity editing with the rest of the trailer shot at night .

Shot 6 – dark tunnel – shadowy figure progressing down the tunnel

Shot 7 – Shot of radio, with police chief talking – reveals a little of the plot.

Shot 8 – Radio again, hand slams down

Shot 9 – Shadowy figure reaches camera and blacks out

Shot 10 – Hooded man stood in bright room – contrasts to darkness

Shot 11 – Low shot of hooded man, creates more power

Shot 12 – Masked man appears and subdues hooded man

Shot 12 – Masked man has back to the camera, hooded man slumps to floor

Titles

Animatic

My animatic is a document showing what shots I had planned to use before beginning to film my final trailer. When compared with my finished trailer, it is clear that the making of my final product was still a huge learning curve, as shots that appear in my animatic are vastly different to ones that appear in my trailer. This shows that what I had planned to do and what I was able to do to create good quality shots were very different.

Some of the shots in my animatic do feature in my final trailer, but it is often hard to distinguish which ones, due to the drawing, and heavy adaptation. My animatic gave me good ideas to start with, but I rapidly realized that I would need to develop the shots to create a product with a professional quality appearance.