The PitchBy Laura Mayall

Romantic DramaFor my media film trailer I have chosen the genre of romantic-drama. I enjoy watching films in this genre and I think it will be a challenging and enjoyable genre to work with.

For my film trailer I need to keep in mind the generic conventions. – In a Romantic Drama the generic conventions are a focus on the complicated side of love. An obstacle in the way of a couple being together – such as death, war, illness. The obstacle in my film trailer is going to be War. Most romantic-dramas end with the lovers separated – due to the enormity of the obstacle. My characters separate as the male character dies.

Planning

Film TrailerEverything in the frame

Actors – Charlotte Harvey, Jake Ray

Locations

Romantic settings – the lane in Priorslee – out of the way and quiet.

Ambient lighting and sound – more romantic

Lots of poppies in the fields – symbolism. Represents the lives lost in World War 1 and 2.

Romantic drama genre – defined as there being an obstacle in the relationship of two people. The obstacle will be war.

Set in the 1940’s. This is because I’m interested in that time, and I thought it would be interesting to set my trailer in the war time. Also I think this is a perfect time period for a love story. – All aspects need to be well thought out – Mise-en-scene.

Costumes Look at 1940’s clothing – look at some of nans photos – young woman in the 1940’s. Hairstyles, make up and costume all need to be accurate and relate to the time.

Plot • To be set in the 1940’s – Romantic drama• Based on a young couple – Rosie and Jay who are separated when Jay

goes to war• Rosie is the protagonist in the film • There will be scenes of the couple together – laughing, happy times,

running round the fields• Childhood scenes to be filmed with young actors• The trailer will start with the actors as children – innocent sweet scenes

and then will go to the actors as young adults running round the fields• The scenes will be continuous edited, so the scenes are quite short but

there's a lot of content, the scenes will flow – for example the scene of the children running will fade out into the characters running round as young adults.

Plot • Jay will then tell Rosie he has signed up for war. I intend for the sound in my

film trailer to be a voice over, because the camera will pick up some interference and background noise, which isn’t the atmosphere that I want for my trailer. However, for this scene in the trailer I want to a bit of dialogue, to represent the desperation in the female character at the thought of losing her partner.

• Jay will return from war and propose to Rosie• When he goes back to war he will be killed• Rosie will receive a telegram informing her of Jays death, I want this to be

slightly mysterious at first, I want her to open the telegram, then for the shot to change to her putting on a black coat (representing black with a funeral), then for her to hold a photo of Jay, and then to see the telegram properly – an extreme close up on the word ‘killed’.

• Then a montage of memories of the two together – fast edited – them as younger characters and old. Fade the scenes out and maybe lighten or give a dreamy effect to them, so it is clear they are flashbacks and memories.

Story Board

Torodov’s Narrative Theory

Tzvetan Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in 5 stages:· A state of equilibrium at the outset· A disruption of the equilibrium by some action· A recognition that there has been a disruption· An attempt to repair the disruption· A reinstatement of the equilibrium Torodov’s theory applied to my film trailer ideas - The theory states that Equilibrium (everything is how it should be) will be had at the start of the film, then there will be disequilibrium, and then equilibrium will be restored.Equilibrium - Romantic settings, loving relationship for the young characters.Disequilibrium – Jay goes off to war and dies at war.Equilibrium – After mourning, Rosie ‘let’s go’ and remembers him for the good memories. My film plot does not follow the equilibrium theory exactly. For example – in Titanic, the equilibrium is not fully restored according to Torodov’s theory as Jack dies on the Titanic. Like Jay dies in my trailer, so equilibrium cannot be re-stored. However in Titanic Rose moves on and starts a new life. Which is like my film, Rosie begins a new life, and says in the voice over that she has ‘let go’.

Target AudienceThe target audience of my film trailer is going to be predominantly female. I have found that the target audience for romantic films are mostly females although the age varies with plots (through questionnaire). For my film trailer I want to target a young adult audience – around 16-25 as my actors are young and I think that the plot of the story will interest them the most.

This age range will be able to connect with the characters more as they are around the same age, and if we were in the 1940’s this is something they would have to face.

PromotionTo advertise my film I would create posters however also promote the film through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. This would target my audience through a common source of communication used by this age range. It would also ensure a wide range of people saw the advertising. I would also promote my film through Internet Movie Database and YouTube, as they are common ways that people watch film trailers, as well as having an official film site. My film trailer would also be shown in cinemas and on television.

RatingsRating – I will give my film trailer a 12A rating, there will be minimal swearing (the use of certain words may be needed in that actual film due to loss), no nudity, violence or drugs in my film trailer and I don’t believe the style of my film would need anything above a 12A. This will increase the audience of my film as younger children will be able to watch it, however I don’t want the rating lowered any further as this would mean the film could be viewed as aimed at children, which it is not. These are the guidelines set by the BBFC for a 12A classification.

Actors

Young Rosie Played by IzzyAge 6

Young JayPlayed by JackAge 6

Adult RosiePlayed by CharlotteAge 17

Adult JayPlayed by JakeAge 17

Locations

Research of the Age

http://lauramayallmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/#!/2012/09/costumes.html

Costume

For my costumes my actress Charlotte has a number of dresses that she thought would be suitable. She brought a number of them to show me and I finalised three of them to use in my trailer. They all look very 1940’s, they are fitted tea dresses which suit the part well.

Army CostumeThe army costume of my male character is very important. I need the costume to look real and believable. So I trailed the charity shops in Shifnal and looked through the drama cupboard at school however we could not find anything that could accurately represent a soldier’s costume.Charlotte’s dad works at RAF Cosford, and he was able to get us in touch with a man in charge of soldier’s costumes from the War and let us borrow one.

He gave us an original army pilot’s clothing to use, we had the trousers and the jacket, and then we put a blue shirt underneath with a plain tie. This costume was brilliant as it makes my film trailer look more realistic and authentic.

We did get a pilots hat as well to film with, however it was not the right size for my actor Jake so we were unable to use it. I am also very aware that in the war my character would not be able to keep his long hair and have it swept over his face like he has. However, Jakes hair is very thick and we were unable to push it back as the gel would not hold it. It also made his hair look very greasy, so I decided not to use it. Although this hairstyle would not be accepted in the war, I think that as the costume is very relevant to the time and an original piece of clothing, the hairstyle is not massively important as I have thought of everything else.

Young Character CostumeThese are a selection of Izzy’s dresses that suited the time period. I chose the middle dress, because it looks more authentic and older fashioned than the other two – and this part of the trailer would be set in the 1930’s as they’re younger.

For Jacks costume he is wearing a white school shirt, with an Idsall prefect tie and a dark blue jumper. He is wearing his school trousers which are grey and smart. His costume is smart along with Izzy’s and they are both suited to the time. I’ve tied Izzy’s hair up as it scrapes the hair off her face which most females did in the 1930/1940’s.

StylingBefore I started filming, I had a session styling Charlotte. For her hair I twisted a front section and twirled it round at the back, this is very similar to some of the styles I have looked at from the 1940’s. I found it really helpful styling Charlotte so I knew what to do before I actually filmed, so it made things a lot quicker on the day.

StylingThese two female characters – from 1940’s set romantic dramas- were styles that I looked at when styling my own actress.

I used deep red lipstick on my character, this adds sophistication, and it makes the actor look beyond her years, which is a common in the 1940’s, women in there teens often looked like they were in there mid to late 20’s.

Sounds• For my film trailer I want my female character – the protagonist – to do a voice over.

The voice over will reflect her life with Jay. I find this easier to do than dialogue because the dialogue could be interfered with background noise.

• In the background of the voice over, I want a soundtrack to be played. • A backing track without words which could interfere with the voiceover .• I want the music for my trailer to be quite sad and graceful, to match the theme of the

trailer. • Because of copyright laws we obviously can’t use an existing song, however we’re

unsure of whether we can use an existing piece of music but compose it ourselves. So to save any problems I have asked my sister to compose some music on the piano.

• I can then edit the sound using the Apple Macs and can speed up or slow down the pace of the music and manipulate it to how I want it.

Cast Sheetshttp://lauramayallmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/#!/2012/09/casting-sheets.html

Photos From Filming

Photos From Filming

Photos From Filming

Photos For Magazine- Styling

For the film magazine, I want Charlotte who plays Rosie the protagonist to have a posed photo. I have curled Charlottes hair – this is to give her hair volume, however have curled the hair inwards which adds less of a dramatic look than outward curls would. I thought that it would suit Charlottes character better. She wears one of the dresses we used for filming.

Photos For Magazine Cover

Film Poster Ideas

This is the photo I have in mind for my film poster. I haven’t done a lot of research, but I have done a bit, and I think I’d like to use this photo with the writing down the side.

I’ve had a go at editing the photo - I thought I might fade the male character as he dies, to make the poster more interesting but also to represent the film. This is something I will explore more.