Our survey result also showed that we should not offer the viewer too much to remember, the film name and release date is enough. Our primary research showed us this also; we can see this in many existing trailers. We also decided to se tension to build suspense by making the lead character seem powerful. We did this by using low angle, dark lit shots, which makes the character seem powerful. This is because we often assume a more powerful person being above us, in for example a court. Power often builds tension because we get a sense of a “clash of the titans” effect, and a build up to a big ending.
A lot of the film orbit around a representation of desperation, which applies to both genres. For example, allot of the shots transitions make them seem disconnected, which represents the disconnection from others in a hostage situation. Another example of this is the darkness. Darkness represents an unknown or a fear, also associated with desperation. We decided to use allot of darkness and shadows to create a sense of fear and tension, when cupped with the particular music gives a strong emotional feel which in our secondary research we found appeals to the target audience and fits in well with the genre.
We found that the most common aspect of successful film trailers aimed at a similar target audience was a quick and constant change in shots. This constant contrast keeps the audience’s attention. We did this particularly because our audience has been proven to have a low attention span.
At looking at previous and existing trailers, they often use the same effect, in that the main character is looking back on the main events of the film and telling the story of the film. This structure often lets the audience get to know the main character more. For example, it the “Lord of War” trailer, Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) goes through the polot of the film and lets the audience into his personality. In our film however we decided not to do this. We wanted the charictars to be dark and secret, apearing hard on the outside untill the ending of the film. A charictar looking back on the events would not let this.
We only made one significant change in that trailer whilst it was being edited, which was the speed of some of the shots, We did this because often a slower movement is often much more dramatic and adds to the emotional feel of the film.
Another part of our target audience decisions was to make the trailer appealing to both sexes; we did this by using to main feels to the trailer, power and emotion. We did this by using things such as low angles, low-level lighting and darkness to suggest power and fade effects, slow motion, sunset effects and shadows to convey emotion.
Another thing we constantly tried to change was the name. We needed something that represented the film but at the same time simple and effective. “Hostage” satisfies both these qualities. For example, we used the slow motion when the lead, played by Alex, falls against the wall; it is a very emotional time for him (in the film) and the slow motion coveys this well.
The final product, both me and the other members of the team were very pleased with. We felt that especially by using many common conventions made it rely feel like a film trailer. Whether we enjoyed it was because it was designed to appeal to us particularly as members of the target audience is debatable, but overall we were all very pleased with the final product.
