Using PAWWS

Now that our editing process is under way, it has become easier to identify that PAWWS that are present in our trailer. PAWWS stands for: who is Present, who is Absent, What world is created, What is valued and Stereotypes that are present. We used PAWWS as a part of our research and planning last year when creating our teen angst film trailers, and it made the research and planning process a lot easier. Before we started filming this thriller product, we discussed PAWWS in our group and decided on how we would use PAWWS to make a successful trailer for our thriller film, as we would use PAWWS to help fit our thriller genre. This is how we used it: 

PAWWS

Present in our film trailer is a mixed generation of actors - as we have 2 actors (the main girl character and the psychopath antagonist) who are 17 years old, we have used 16-18 year-old's for the victims of the killer, and we have also used adults aged 30-50 years old as the detectives that are put on the case. Use of older actors was important in our film, as the roles that they play are ones that cannot be pursued by people that are of my age group. If we had used 16-18 year-old's for the roles such as detectives then the film would become unrealistic and this would lead to a lack of interest from the audience as it spoils the believability of the film.

Absent in our film are both cultural diversity and disability. There was nobody available in the school that weren't white British or had any noticeable disability - however we may be able to include diversity in our film as extras if we film on a day that we can include more people.


What world is created is one of distress and extreme violence, which is a stereotypical convention of psychological thrillers. The narrative is focused around a psychopath who committed school killings as a younger boy and has now escaped the mental institution that he was placed in - killing more people. There is one girl that he is after specifically as she managed to escape the school during his killing spree when he was younger - and when she finds out about the psycho's escape and that he may be after her - a world of extreme distress and panic is created.

What is valued in our film is safety, comfort and the help of others. When the psycho escaped from the mental institution, the girl he targets values her safety, protection and comfort and there are a lot of shots of her in her home that will be ussed in the trailer to represent her valuing these things. Also, when the detective works out that the psycho is after her, he contacts her and offers her his help and protection before the psycho can get to her - and these are other things that she will value more than anything else.

Stereotypes that are present in our film trailer can include a young female that the antagonist is searching for to kill. This is a stereotypical convention of the thriller genre as women are generally perceived as being weak and hopeless in comparison to a strong and powerful male villain and this links into Vladamir Propp's theory. We are also going to make it clear that the antagonists weapon of choice is a knife - and this is a prop that is commonly used in psychological thrillers as antagonists generally commit knife crimes etc.

Applying audience theories to our thriller film

As part of my research for my psychological thriller film, I have decided to apply audience theory to my thriller product. I will be talking about the Uses and Gratifications Theory, Stuart Hall's readings and the types of audiences that will be most interested in my thriller film.

Uses and gratifications theory
This form of audience theory can be divided into two seperate sections; personal relationships and personal identity. Personal relationships will be present in my thriller film trailer as the audience as consumers might see the trailer and might be tempted to watch the film with friends. After seeing the trailer, people may also talk to others about it to discuss their opinion on it - this can be done between peers or with stangers such as over social network sites. Personal identity can be created as two of the settings in my trailer are likely to be school and the house environment - these are two very familiar places for the audienec and therefore they can relate to the characters in the film when they are in these places.

Stuart Hall's readings:
The preferred reading of our film would be an audeince that can relate to the protagonist - someone who creates personal identity. For example; someone who has the same fears or someone that would find out antagonist fearful like the protagonist in our film does. The negotiated / oppositional reading of our film would be that the film isn't necessarily scary - but it is a psychological thriller which is something that would interest audiences.

Types of audiences:
The type of audience for our psychological thriller would be a niché audience due to the type of film it is. A psychological thriller would interest a particualr audience - as many wouldn't like films that are considered to be quite chilling. A particualr audience (one that enjoys and is familiar with this genre of film) would only want to watch this film as opposed to a mass audience - which is a wide open audience. 

Pitching film ideas

In this post I will be presenting the ideas that myself and the rest of my group had for our film and the explanations behind our decisions - including decisions based on:

• Our title - choosing our title, font and title colour
• Misé-en-scene - settings, characters and props
• Production company logo
• Unique Selling Point (USP)

These were ideas that we pitched to the rest of the class in a presentation last week in order to get feedback so we can improve our ideas and give ourselves a better structure and plan for our film. 

Our title

The decisions we had to make on our title were crucial to the successfulness of our film trailer and our film poster and film magazine cover when we come to make them, as it needs to be as appealing as possible and fit the genre of the film in order to appeal to the target audience. As our film is focused around a teenage psychopath, we looked up possible synonyms for the word 'psycho' that would sound appealing as a movie title. Possible synonyms we considered were words such as 'insane' 'deranged' 'disturbed' and 'crazy'. We felt as if 'deranged' sounded best for our film and was the one that stuck out and sounded the most powerful as being the most appealing for the target audience. Also, having on a one-word title was something we were very interested in as it is a typical convention of thriller films to only have a one-word title - for example thrillers such as 'Se7en' 'Saw' 'Inception' and 'Momento'. We used the 'Animated Glow' font that can be found at the Cool Text website here: http://cooltext.com/Logo-Design-Animated-Glow . We took off the glow and added a black background behind the word 'Deranged' as this is our title and black will be the colour of our film front cover and poster. We used this font as it is sharp / pointy and this symbolises a knife and the words looked as if they have been carved into the background. This was important for us to create iconography as the killer in our film uses a knife as his weapon of choice. Also, the text is in a metallic silver colour which again symbolises a knife.

Misé-en-scene

The settings that we are going to use are ones that are common feature in the thriller films genre. We were thinking about using school gates and fences at some stage to film the psychopath behind them to give the idea that he is trapped in the mental institution at the beginning of the film before breaking out. We have asked one of our teachers to film in it and he has happily agreed and we will be using his office for a lot of the scenes as the detectives office, after we have given it a make-over to make it look more conventional with the props we have designed for it. We are also using particular outdoor settings at night that create a chilling effect such as dark alleyways outside of some of our houses. We are also using the home setting that will feature a lot in the trailer as it will make the fight scene that is being shown in the trailer more intense - as home settings in films are generally a 'safe place'. We haven't yet decided names for our characters but we have got plenty of pupils at this school that have happily volunteered to take place in the film, as well as the teacher which we plan on using as the main detective in the film. We have the main protagonist and antagonist booked, as well as the detective and have agreed scheduled times for all of them to film when they are available. We will use the mask of the antagonist which is what he finds when he escapes from the mental institution. A mask is a stereotypical convention of thriller genre and it will feature a lot in the trailer as the antagonist is always seen wearing it in order to hide his identity and appear 'emotionless'. We will also use other props such as the notice boards for the detectives. These are very commonly used in detective's offices as it shows how the cases have progressed, and the evidence they have gathered in order to try and find the killer and work out their motive. 

Antagonists mask

Notice board (part 2)

Notice board (part 1)

Production company logo

We haven't yet made our production company logo but it is something that we will do soon as it is something important in the making of our film trailer as it is a typical convention of film trailers as they always feature at the beginning. We want a production company logo name whcih presents the idea of finest quality and words we have come up with are ones such as 'optimum' 'optimal' and 'ultimate'. The one we are most likely to use would be one such as 'Optimal Productions' and it would include colours or iconography that would also present the idea of fine quality. It is also important for us that we make it clear in the production company logo that they often produce films of the same genre. 

Unique Selling Point

The USP of our thriller film is that the main antagonist in the film is a teenager - at 17 years old. This is a countertype of the thriller genre as the main antagonists are usually always adult men. However, ours is a teenage boy who is going to played by one of the students at our school and therefore this doesn't fit the stereotypical conventions of a thriller film, making it more interesting and appealing to the audience. It is likely that more people will want to see the film as the antagonist is a teenager and it makes the story more unusual and interesting. The audience will be intrigued to know the psychopaths background and his motives. Another USP of our film is that the psychopath and the main girl - the protagonist - have a history, which will be made clear in the trailer to promote interest. This will help the audience create a personal relationship with the main character as they take a look into her past.

Narrative

This is a short summary of our film narrative if it were going to be made into a real film, divided into three sections; beginning, middle and end:

Beginning: This would firstly consist of news reports and shots of newspaper articles focused around a 16-year-old psychopath who killed 11 out of 12 people in his class at school. Then, the focus would be on the psychopath in his current state, with shots of him being locked up in a mental institution not far from the school he used to attend, where the killings took place. The attention will then be on the main character of the film, a teenage girl who later in the film is identified as 'the one that got away' as she was the 1 person who managed to escape the psychopath's attack. The filming would follow her throughout her every day life, giving the audience a perspective on what sort of life she now leads and how she has moved on since the psychopath's attack in the past.

Middle: The middle of the film would be when the psychopath breaks out of the mental institution in search of the main character, the girl who got away. The detective in our film, who will be played by one of our school teachers in the trailer, is put on the case in order to find the psychopath and in order to do this he must determine what the psychopath's motive for escaping is, in order to plot where to find him and where he would be likely to be found. After a number of killings in the area, the detective analyses all the cases and realises that it is the psychopath who is committing these killings in search for the girl who got away. The detective then tries to contact the main character before it is too late.

End: The end of the film would consist of the detective trying to get to the girl's house to protect her before the psychopath arrives. However, the psychopath beats him there and manages to get in the girl's house as she goes to lock the front door - as he gets in through the back. The end would then feature an intense fight scene between the main character and the psychopath in which it looks as if the psychopath will kill her, however the detective manages to get to the house in time and kill the psychopath, saving the main character and resolving the crisis.

The decisions regarding our sound, music and editing choices are yet to be made as we haven't filmed yet - however once the filming has been completed and the editing process is well under way this information will be presented on my blog. 

Pre-production planning

In this post I will be discussing the different areas of post-production planning that myself and the rest of my group have completed in order to create a successful psychological thriller trailer as a part of our A2 media coursework. Below are the types of post production planning that I have completed and that I will be presenting in this post:

• Props
• Shotlists and storyboards
• Location/setting ideas
• Organisation of actors/filming schedules
• Risk assessment

Props

Two examples of props that we created are ones that will be hung up on the detectives notice board - which will feature a number of times in the trailer. We decided to use these particular props as it will help the audience develop a better understanding on the narrative of the film. The long shots of the detective analysing the notice boards and sticking things on it will help the audience understand what role this detective has in the case. Also, close ups on the newspaper articles and the victims of the psychopath murderer in our film will allow the audience to create assumptions on the type of character this psychopath is - and they will also be interested in trying to figure out what his motive is after his escape. 

The newspaper articles are ones that the detective has put up, both on the psychopaths previous killings, as well as his killings after escaping from the mental institution he was placed in - this will allow him to work out who the psychopath is now targeting. The second prop is pictures of the victims that he has killed after his escape, and where they were found on a map of the local area.

This is how these props will be used in the product in the detectives office: 

As you can see by the image on the left, we have also used some pictures that we took of murder scenes on the notice board, and spread them across his desk. This will promote he idea that this is the only focus for the detective and that he is getting worked up over this case. Another prop that we were going to use is a knife - this would be the killers weapon of choice. The knife isn't going to feature in the actual footage for the trailer, however it is mentioned all over the notice board as his weapon of choice - and it is likely that we will use a knife presented on the poster for our film as it is a stereotypical convention of thriller films that a antagonist has a weapon of choice for his killings. 

The last prop that we have arranged, is this mask. This mask will be used for both our trailer and our movie poster. This is a stereotypical convention of psychological thriller movies - for example in the film 'Halloween' the main antagonist has a mask. We decided to use this mask as it appears emotionless and this is how we want to portray our psychopath. We want him to appear to have no emotion and no care for any of the murders that he has committed. We also want his face to be hidden, this is because we want him to have a hidden identity so the audience can create assumptions based on his appearance.


Shotlists

These two pictures are of the storyboards / shotlists that we created. These involve pictures that we drew that give us a perspective of the type of shot that we will use and the characters / props that are in each shot. We have supported these pictures with the shot number, a detailed description of what occurs in each shot, the shot type and how long the shot will be used for. This will give us much better organisation and preperation ahead of filming so we know what we need to do on the day. This will help us more time efficient and organised. 

Locations / settings ideas



As you can see in this image I used earlier of the notice board - we have taken pictures of a variety of different locations / settings that we are going to present in the trailer to give the audience a better understanding on the areas that the psychopath has committed his killings. The other locations that we will use are the detectives office, which was shown above, and the main character's house. A detectives office is a stereotypical location for a psychological thriller as there are usually always detectives - like in the film Se7en for exmple: 

Detectives office in Se7en

Also, the reason that we used the location of a home setting is because this is considered a 'safe place' by audience viewers, and that conception will be tested in our film as the psychopath breaks into the main character's house - therefore making it an unsafe place. The break in will make the audience uncomfortable due to the misconception of the home being a safe place and it will make the film a lot more appealing to see how the main character reacts to the situation. 

Organising of actors / filming

We arranged all of the actors that we will need for filming through asking them at school, and messaging them using social media. We were able to organise all of the actors that we planned for filming, and we arranged a filming date with them that they were all able to be present for. We decided on the different dates for our filming which will all take place next week before we break up for school - this will allow us to have the end of the week and January to edit the trailer using Final Cut Pro. 

Risk assessment 

We had a teacher present when we were designing the detectives office - and this helped us to ensure that everything in the room was safe and that there were no concerns for health or safety when putting things up on high shelves for example. He helped us put things up on shelves that were out of reach for us and we tidied up the floors and desk too. We also tidied up the house which we intended to use for our filming and made sure that there were no risks to filming in there. We arranged particular outdoor scenes in places that were not likely to concern our health and safety.

Researching film posters

In this post, I will be researching a variety of film posters of the thriller genre in order to help me create a poster for my product that has all the conventions of a real one. The first thing I noticed about film posters of the thriller genre, is that they nearly always have a large central image of the main protagonists or main antagonist's face. Below are some examples of this:

The posters here are for: Black Swan; Red Lights; Shutter Island and Stoker

This is therefore evidence that a close up of key characters are a main convention of thriller film posters. The close ups add the element of mystery for the audience as it makes them interested in the film as they will try to understand who these characters are and what sort of role they would have in the film. The close ups also allow the audience to see the emotions of the characters, who are usually portrayed as being 'crazy' in psychological thrillers. In these four examples I have given, the characters are showing very little emotion which lets the audience create assumptions on what sort of character they think they will be.

Another key convention that I noticed on these film posters were the use of dark colours and low key lighting to make the image more chilling and mysterious.

 These two posters, for 'Awakening' and 'The Apparition' both are examples of how thriller film posters usually use very dark colours. The colours used consist of black, brown, dark blue and a lot of grey. These colours , because they are dark, connote the genre to the audience and it promotes the idea of a dark narrative and a dark story behind the images on the poster. These two posters also bring me onto my next point, that white text is frequently used on thriller posters. This is because of the dark images in the background, the white font is used so

so that the text will stand out, ahead of the dark images. This is so the audience will notice the title of the film and will therefore be influenced to research it a little further before deciding whether or not to view it. White text is also used on two of the examples previously given - Shutter Island and Red Lights. As well as white text, red text is also used frequently as red connotes danger and blood - which is something that is obviously frequently present in a thriller film, therefore they use it to connote the genre of the film to attract the right audience.

Another main convention of thriller film posters would be the use of tag lines that hint what will happen in the film. The tag lines are usually quite disturbing or chilling for the audience. For example, the tag line on the 'Awakening' film above is 'Sometimes dead does not mean gone' and the tag line on 'The Apparition' is 'Once you believe, you die'. These are two prime examples of how tag lines can be used as a strong effect to create a disturbing feel among the audience. This is something that will appeal to the audience as they will hint what the narrative contains - 'once you believe, you die' for example will create many assumptions from the audience and will convince them to watch the film to see if what they thought was right.

Another common convention of thriller film posters, like with most film posters would be the use of star power. One example would be the poster for Se7en:

Se7en poster

This poster features a close up of both Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, as well as their names in large print above their heads. This is a clear advertisement technique from the creators of the poster in order to try and reach a larger and more global audience. Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are two very globally known Hollywood actors and therefore having a large close up of both of them, as well as their names in large font, and in colours that contrast from the background, they are trying to attract a bigger audience. This will also help them to attract their target audience as these are two actors that are commonly in thriller films or action / adventure films that target the same audience, and this is another convention of thriller film posters.

Other conventions that are present in nearly all thriller film posters would be:

• The release date of the film or the day it is released in cinema
• Credits - i.e. producers of the film etc
• Star ratings (sometimes) - only when the film is being released on DVD 
• Quotes from reviews - again only when it is being released on DVD
• Names of the actors - usually only when well known actors are used
• Age certificate of the film
• Website of the film 
• Awards the film has won / been nominated for

These conventions are the more commonly used ones that feature on nearly all posters, and therefore I won't b give specific examples. However these conventions all contribute to the recognition of the film - i.e. use of well known producers or actors will promote its recognition, as if a film has successful producers who have introduced high quality films in the past, then the audience will be more influenced to see it. Star ratings, awards won/ nominated for or quotes will also promote the film as they will present to the audience how successful or highly rated it is. The release date of date it is first being shown in cinema will be used to attract the audience and influence them to watch it. The age certificate it used to target the specific audience and inform the audience on who can watch it.

Researching film trailers

In this post I will be analysing two thriller trailers using a table that was designed in class, below is the analysis of the Safe Haven and The Sixth Sense trailers:

Safe Haven
Feature	Comments
Genre	Romance thriller
Narrative	Woman who ran away from someone who attacks her is followed and is attacked again, after she finds her ‘safe heaven’
Unique Selling Point	Different from the norm – romance thriller (which is a hybrid – combination of two genres) – and it’s also based on a famous book
Target Audience	I would say 18-25 year old females
Music	Female voice, starts quiet then builds up – lyrics contain “you can go your own way” – which relates to the film Starts very slow orchestral music, builds up as the trailer goes on, becoming louder and faster paced
Shot Types / Camera Angles	Handheld camera, long shots, mid shots, close ups, extreme close ups, pan shot, over the shoulder shot
Pace	Starts off quite sloe, then gets a lot quicker paced with the music
Dialogue	“She passed away a few years ago” “He’s here” – whispered “He’s going to find me” All typical of the thriller genre as they add suspense and a sense of danger
Voiceover	There isn't one
Special Effects	Non-continuity editing – doesn't follow the story chronologically Slow motion, flashbacks, fade
Credits and Intertitles	‘Creators of Dear John and The Notebook’ – relates to the target audience as they are more likely to appeal ‘It’s not what you’re running from, it’s what you’re running to’ – adds element of mystery and a sense of danger

The Sixth Sense
Feature	Comments
Genre	Thriller
Narrative	A boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a child psychologist.
Unique Selling Point	It’s different to films that have been made before – the idea of speaking to dead people, as well as being able to actually see them is very chilling and would sell this film
Target Audience	18-25 year old males
Music	Extremely low orchestral music – just the sound of a violin up until 1:52, with the music is much louder and the introduction of drums until 2:00 – then back to extremely low orchestral music again
Shot Types / Camera Angles	Handheld camera, long shots, mid shots, close ups, extreme close ups, pan shot, over the shoulder shot, POV
Pace	Very low pace and long cuts up until 1:52 when the cuts and pace are a lot quicker, in time with the music
Dialogue	“I see dead people” “Standing next to my window” “They’re everywhere” All of these are chilling quotes of the dialogue that will create a suspense and creepy feeling among the audience
Voiceover	There isn't one
Special Effects	Non-continuity editing – doesn't follow the story chronologically Slow motion, flashes, fade, gunshot whilst the gun is pointing at the camera
Credits and Intertitles	‘Hollywood pictures’ and ‘SpyGlass Entertainment’ are both well recognised and established film producers and therefore this would promote the film ‘Bruce Willis’ – a very well-known Hollywood actor which would attract a bigger audience

Below are the links for the Safe Haven and The Sixth Sense:

Safe Haven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4vhm3_-3VM 

The Sixth Sense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG9AGf66tXM 

Reasearching film trailers - conventions

Collage of thriller films

To further my research on film trailers, I decided to watch lots of trailers on YouTube that were of some of the most popular thriller films to date, in order to help me gather information that will help me when I come to create a thriller trailer for my coursework. I created a collage of movie titles, front covers and scenes from these thriller films that represent a stereotypical thriller film, in order to help me when I create my trailer, so I know what to include. The collage shows me what title fonts and colours are most present, what props are effective, typical settings of a thriller film etc. In studying these trailers, I have learned a lot on what conventions are most consistently present in these trailers, and these are conventions that I will be sure to use in my product in order to make it successful. Below is a list  of the conventions that I found are most typical in trailers for this genre:

• Low key lighting
• Fast paced cuts
• Chilling music that creates suspense
• Black and white shots
• Protagonist in danger
• Antagonists appearing as a major threat
• Props usually consisted of weapons - guns, knifes, chainsaws, axes etc.
• Almost always starred young male and female actors to appeal to the audience
• Voiceover
• A wide range of camera angles - close-up most effective to present the emotions
• Titles are usually red or white coloured and usually bold
• Costumes are usually black or other dark colours
• Non-diegetic sound effects - e.g. the shot of a gun in the distance
• Amplified sound for chilling effect - e.g. the sound of footsteps or heavy breathing
• Slow motion
• Protagonist usually always a young and strong male you will try to solve the equilibrium
• Shots of the antagonist cut very quickly in order to hide their identity
• Cross cutting

There are many more conventions that can be noted, however these are the ones that I picked out from analysing thriller films on YouTube. A lot of them carry out the same person, and this is to try and scare the audience, or to keep them interested in the narrative. Low key lighting, use of dangerous props, chilling music, amplified sound etc are all conventions that are used to try and give the audience a chilling effect, which will appeal to the right type of audience and will convince them to watch the film. 

Conventions such as voiceovers, titles (that usually relate to the narrative), cross cutting and the representation of the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) are the exact conventions that will keep the audience so engaged. These types of conventions will keep the audience interested in the product and will convince them to see it. Particularly representations of the characters when the narrative is something that could potentially happen to them (the audience) - as it leaves them wanting to find out what happens and wanting to discover how the protagonist(s) solves the equilibrium.

All of the conventions are particularly useful in their own way, some are done very discretely and are hardly noticed by the audience yet they have a massive impact on the overall success of the trailer. For example; fast paced cuts, range of camera angles, amplified sound and red and white titles are all conventions that are very minimally recognised or taken much notice of by the audience, yet they will have an impact on the trailer. Fast cuts, range of camera angles and amplified sound will make the trailer more mysterious and chilling, whereas red and white titles will make a difference to the view of the trailer, and will connote the genre of the film more obviously. 


Below are the links of some of the thriller trailers I viewed:

Saw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCZp5v8V-94 

The Silence of the Lambs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQKs169Sl0I 

Would You Rather: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it5XICr93wU 

Se7en: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YV2_TcCoE

American Psycho: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GIsExb5jJU

Girls Against Boys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRforhAoA3Y

Lucid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlGCdavzMNI

Awake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3eEauXSQIA

Researching film trailers - shot analysis

This post will demonstrate what one film trailer of my choice includes in every shot for the first 60 seconds of the trailer. I will use this as research for when I attempt to create a film trailer, and therefore I will look at a film that is of a similar genre to the one that I will attempt to create, which is a thriller. I will include the shot number, the number of seconds into the trailer and what the shot contains.The film trailer I will be looking at is for the film The Silence of the Lambs (1991).


1. 00:00: Production company logo fades onto the screen: 'An Orion Pictures Release'
2. 00:03: Close up of detective wearing glasses asks 'You spook easily Starling?'
3. 00:05: Close up of main character Starling shakes her head 'Not yet sir'
4. 00:07: Starling is in a jail, she is locked behind bars and the prison guard says 'He's past the others, the last cell'
5. 00:11: Mid shot on prison guard and he says: 'I'll be watching, you'll do fine'
6. 00:14: Mid shot of Starling behind bars and voice over says 'A killer is on the loose'
7. 00:18: Close up of Starling in a car and non-dietetic audio from the radio says: 'He keeps them alive for 3 days'
8. 00:19: Close up of newspaper strips talking about the killer, radio continues 'And then he shoots them'
9. 00:20: Extreme close up of girls lips, radio continues 'Skins them, skins them and then dumps them!' - this audio plays which flashes of the newspaper articles appear on and off the screen
10. 00:24: Starling walking through the jail cells, voice over continues: 'A rookie FBI agent is on his tail'
11. 00:27: Mid-shot of Starling in a car, she says: 'He's got, real physical strength'
12. 00:29: she continues: 'He's cautious, precise and he's never impulsive' as the shot changes to the image of the killer undressing a victim
13. 00:31: Mid-shot of Starling in the car again, she says: 'He'll never stop'
14. 00:35: A panning shot, through the jail
15. 00:37: Close up of Starling, voice over continues: 'But in order to close him down'
16. 00:39: Mid-shot of the killer in a jail cell, voice over continues: 'She'll have to match wits' Hannibal Hector in the jail cell says: 'I'll help you catch him, Clarie' to Starling
17. 00:42: Close up on Starling
18. 00:43: Close up on detective with glasses again saying: 'Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Hector inside your head'
19. 00:45: Shot of police car and policemen running, with the sound of sirens in the background
20. 00:48: Mid shot of Hector in a different jail cell, voice of detective in the background says: 'Just do your job, and never forget what he is'
21. 00:51: Close up of Hector
22. 00:52: Close up of a newspaper referring to the killer, and the voice over of the detective continues: 'He's a monster'
23. 00:54: Close up of Starling, voice over of detective continues: 'Pure psychopath'
24. 00:55: Close up of a different detective, he says: 'It's so rare to catch one alive'
25. 00:56: Close up of a victims body
26 00:57: Close up of Starling holding a picture of the victim
27. 1:00: Camera zooms in from a mid-shot to a close up of Hector in a jail cell as he speak to Starling


Notable conventions in this trailer:

Sound effects: chilling sound whenever there is a change in shot that relates to the killer, i.e. newspaper articles, body of victim or pictures of victims etc.
Transitions: fade is used on more than one occasion
Editing: quick cuts, a person is never on the screen more than a few seconds
Low key lighting
Lots of close ups of the characters is connote their emotions - usually worry / anxiety or fear
The production company logo at the start
The use of voice over throughout - both the voice over man and speech of characters
Variety of shots - usually low angle shots looking up at Hector and close ups or low angle shots on the detectives and Starling, pan shot, POV shot, handheld camera, mid shots, long shots, use of zooming in, over the shoulder shot, etc.
Digetic sound: chilling music, sound effects, sirens, radio and voice overs etc.

Here is the link for The Silence of the Lambs trailer I looked at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQKs169Sl0I

Researching film magazine cover (annotation and analysis)

Annotation (you may want to expand the image by clicking on it to read the text easier)

This is my analysis of a film magazine cover for 'EMPIRE'. All of these comments above are based on the visual and verbal techniques, as well as the persuasive techniques and the institutional information. Blow I will give my 'critical evaluation'...

This is a good cover for a film magazine as it meets all the expectations of a film magazine cover in order to attract the correct target audience. It's visual techniques in particular (connotations, symbolism, fonts, main images, strapline, genre, puffs and what is represented) are all mentioned in my annotation above and they are all used successfully in order to represent what the magazine is featuring and attract the target audience, it is a good cover for these reasons. It meets all the visual expectations of the potential buyer too as the cover is very colourful and features images that will immediately appeal to the target audience (like the robotic sci-fi image taken from Transformers, a film largely popular with a 16-24 year old target audience on a global stage). It also presents features of the magazine on the front that will influence the audience to purchase the magazine, like their 'annual review of the year' which is something the magazine audience will look forwrd to reading, and this is a persuasive technique. The magazine also featuers star power with Mark Wahlberg who is in other popular action / adventure films such as Italian Job which will appeal to the target audience as this is the genre most heavily featured in 'EMPIRE' magazine. 

This example of  'Total Film' magazine uses
more frequent and effective coverlines

The magazine communicates effectively with the audience with the use of coverlines, however this magazine doesn't use coverlines as frequently or efectively as other film magazines do. Certain coverlines that are present include 'Plus! Our annual review of the year!' which is used as a communicating feature in order to appeal to the target audience and persuade them to read the magazine as they will be interseted in reading about the magazine's annual review as it is clearly a popular feature if it is presented on the front of the magazine. Other coverlines such as 'OSCARS SPECIAL!' and the three movie titles in the top right of the magazine cover are used for the same effect, they influence the reader to buy the magazine in order to read about what is being featured inside - as these things are popular witht he target audience of this magazine. They use the main actors' surnames e.g. 'BAY' and 'WAHLBERG' to appeal to the target audience of 16-24 year old males as it seems more 'cool' by adressing th actors by their second name, and this will also appeal to them. The connotation of the tagline 'The worlds biggest movie magazine' is that it is the most popular and favoured film magazine in the world, and therefore this will appeal to the targe audience as movie lovers will want to buy magazines of the highest quality.

There isn't  any alternative readings on this film cover however, as all of the text is focused on the same thing which is influencing the audience through persuasive techniques and featuring popular Hollyood films on the film cover. All of the text on the cover is for the same purpose and therefore this cover doesn't use any alternative techniques in order to persuade the audience. Instead, this cover focuses more on preferred reading, it trusts that people who will be readnig the magazine cover will be those who are interested in the genres presented on the cover, therefore they don;t need to use certain alternative readings in order to attract other audiences, they aim for appealing their target audience specifically.

The cover is a good one for another reason in that it isn't offensive in any way to any potential buyer of the magazine. The cover includes both male and female characters in an action / adventure / sci-fi movie 'Transformers to avoid being sexist as usually only male characters are presented as being more important in this genre of film, and are therefore usually always presented on the front of the magazine as opposed to women who aren't. There also isn;t any language used that could potentially cause offense to any race, gender, culture etc.