EVALUATION OF FRAMES

Dan O’Kane

Frame 1

We put our ‘Slipped Production’ at the beginning of our teaser trailer because we wanted to separate the text throughout the teaser trailer. We discussed the position of text in the trailer and decided that too much text in one part may lose the audiences attention in our teaser trailer. We wanted to keep our trailer fast paced, seperating text was the way to do this.

Frame 2

We put the ‘Pinnacle Studios’ logo at the beginning also as we believe it should stay with the Slipped Productions logo. We also wanted to keep it separate from other text in the trailer so that the audience didn’t get bored, for the same reasons we put the Slipped Productions logo in Frame 1.

Frame 3

The footage we shot that we put in first was establishing shot of the protagonist fading away to be followed by the antagonist. We put this footage first as we feel this gives a good clue to what the film is about. It also immediately relates to the title of the film ‘The Following’. The audience, seeing this footage may think they know what will happen in the film. We also believe this longer slower start suits the soundtrack to the trailer at this part. We want the slower start to build up to a fast paced, attention grabbing ending to the teaser trailer.

Frame 4

This shot is short and quick. We put this in our trailer as, with the image being so short, it builds tension and begins to introduce the fast paced nature of the teaser trailer towards the end. The image in Frame 4 is off barbed wire, which is normally associated with danger. This gives a clue to the audience that the film is of a horror genre.

Frame 5

Frame 5 was chosen as we wanted to pose an enigma code to the audience – what has the victim done. Here the antagonist is ripping down images we took of the victim. This medium shot is in our photography dark room at the Ely Sixth Form. This room is suitable as it has writing on the wall which goes well with the pictures of the victim. It gives clues to the audience that the stalker is obsessed with the girl, which is why he is after her. We dressed the stalker in dark clothing, with his hood up, which tells the audience that he is associated with evil.

Frame 6

Frame 6 uses a distance shot with effects which make the stalker suddenly appear. We chose this location as it is secluded and quiet. In the footage there is no cars or people about, with a house that is not lit up. This shows that it would be a good location for the stalker to be. We put this shot here as when the stalker appears, it fits in well with the sudden change of music.

Frame 7

We put this shot here because of the ‘warning’ sign. It is very short and is again, like frame 4, used to build tension. This short quick shot increases the pace, and excites the audience preparing them for a climax at the end of the trailer.

Frame 8

Here is another short, quick shot. We put this shot in to show the film from the protagonist’s point of view. This is to let the audience see from the victims point of view. We want to put in footage from both the victims and the stalkers points of view in the teaser, to make the audience feel like they are part of the film, from both perspectives. Therefore making the audience feel like they can relate to both characters giving them a more personal feel to the teaser trailer, and then they will want to go and see the full film.

Frame 9

Frame 9 is another medium shot of the victim being followed. This relates to the title of the film. We chose to not put a black and white effect on this footage, as we felt we didn’t want the whole trailer to be in black and white as it may bore the audience.

Frame 10

This frame is again, another short and quick clip. We chose to add this as we feel it has a lonely feeling, like there is nothing around but trees. This will make the audience feel lonely and vulnerable, similar to the victim in the film. This can again, build a personal link between the audience and the victim.

Frame 11

This short frame uses a couple of shots of the antagonist getting closer. It starts with a long shot, then another long shot with the focus of the shot being in a different position, then closer to a medium shot. We chose this footage as we wanted to make the audience feel as if they are the protagonist, and the antagonist is coming for them, involving the audience in the film.

Frame 12

In this shot, we have put the audience in the eyes of the stalker. This builds a relationship between the stalker and the audience, letting the audience see what the antagonist see’s. We purposely did not use a tripod in this footage and didn’t hold the camera completely still. This makes the point of view from the stalker more realistic.

Frame 13

In this frame, we overlaid two shots. One of the victim walking away, and the other of the victim running away. The shot of the victim walking is a medium shot. Then the other shot that is laid over the top is a point of view shot of the victim running. We show frequent footage of the victim being followed to enhance the point that she has a stalker. We think it is important to have her consistently being followed as it is the title of the film, and we want to get the following point across to the audience. We liked the sound in this clip as you can hear the footsteps of the victim running. This builds tension as the audience knows she needs to get away.

Frame 14

This shot is of the stalker coming towards the camera. We wanted this to be from the point of view of the protagonist. Making the audience think the stalker is coming for them. This footage is in this position to allow us to put the shots of the victim tied up after, so the footage is in a sensible order and isn’t likely to confuse the audience.

Frame 15

Here is our strapline of the film. We asked a question in our strapline to make the audience put themselves in the position the victim is, and therefore relate themselves to the victim. This will make the audience go to see the film and see what will happen to the victim.

Frame 16

This frame poses an enigma code. The audience will be asking themselves how did the victim go from being followed to being caught and tied up in a room. They will want to go and see the film to answer this question. The soundtrack is loud now and has built a lot of tension, with the sound from the clip of the victim screaming, we hope to have the audience scared.

Frame 17

Frame 17 is of the antagonist sharpening knives. An enigma code is formed about what is he planning to do to the protagonist. The antagonist having the knives shows that he is dominant in this situation. This footage is from the point of view of the protagonist and therefore putting the audience in her position. This, again, makes the audience feel like they can relate to the victim, and therefore want to see the film to see what happens to the character they relate themselves to.

Frame 18

Frame 18 is at the peak of the soundtrack and is a medium shot of the protagonist being hit by the antagonist. The protagonist is tied up to represent that she is powerless. Because the audience throughout the teaser trailer can relate themselves to the victim throughout the trailer, this shot will be powerful and attention grabbing as they feel like they know her. They won’t want her to get hurt and will want to see the film to see if she survives.

Frame 19

We put our title at the tend of the trailer as, after studying existing successful teaser trailers, this seemed like the conventional place to put it. We didn’t want to challenge the convention of the position of the title in a teaser trailer as we didn’t want to confuse the audience as they are used to the title being given towards the end of the trailer.

Frame 20

The date being at the end of the trailer is important, as, if it was at the beginning, they might see the date and not pay much attention, then see the trailer and decide they want to see the film but have forgotten the date. Putting the date at the end is sensible as the audiences attention is already grabbed by the previous footage. They will want to come see the film and then they will see the release date. We kept this screen and the title screen basic with just the font in the middle as we wanted the audiences attention to be focused on the title and release date, and not the be distracted by anything else.

Frame 21

We put the website on as the website is vital in the marketing of our film. We want the audience to go to the website to see the viral marketing of our film.

Frame 22

Our last frame is important as it will be the last thing the audience remember from the teaser trailer. We timed the clip perfectly with the music. The music is loud then suddenly drops to almost silent, at this time the victim’s eyes open. This will let the audience know that the victim that they relate to is still alive and will want to go see the film to find out what happens next.