Your typical film industry timeline

1)      Idea

The chosen writer, producer or director creates an original idea for a film.

2)      Development Finance

Once the idea is developed, they will need to go to a group of investers who are willing to spend their money on the project. If the investers decided it is a good film and they believe they will make return, then the producers, writers etc will have money to start their film production.

3)      Script Development

This breaks up all the scenes into sections - making it easier to read. Sales treatment is needed for this, which allows the reader a small synopsis that gives the reader brief idea of what the film is about and the general idea.

4)      Packaging Moment

Possible merchandise is available for the film - this has been done by big cinema hits such as Twilight. From here the brand can be established, as well as uncover potential craze and fans for the film.

5)      Financing

Covers costs including investors and the chance for pre-sales as well as completion bonds, which is insurance that covers the film if it doesn’t get finished.

6)      Pre-Production

Storyboarding, casting, equipment, set design and editing.

7)      The Shoot

The filming.

8)      Post Production

Editing and sound effects are added to create the full effect.

9)      Getting a distributor

Once the film is finished, searching for a distributor who will take on the film and distribute it.

Final coursework idea and film pitch.

For my AS coursework I have to complete a film trailer in which I show a short clip of the film just as your typical trailer does. After much deliberation on what type of genre I should go for, I decided on horror. The zombie theme really appealed to me and I felt this would be a really fun trailer to make! I have three things in which I will need to complete for this project, they are: 

• a short film trailer
•  A magazine cover
• A film poster

All of these will need to be completed with the trailer being the centre piece. The poster and magazine cover will be similar, but in no way the same. They will all have a central theme and hopefully colour scheme to help ensure I have branded the film and the production well, I always find I can link a brand with colours. I personally believe the magazine cover creation will be the easier part with experience in this from last years coursework. 

Establishing a general film idea is essential for this project to work. Planning is key. For the project to run smoothly and go completely right, there needs to be an idea and then a lot of planning from this idea. Obviously, the original ideas will be adapted and changed throughout a period of time and there will be things which need changing along the way.

The general idea is for the zombie theme. The setting will hopefully be in an abandoned house with a few friends acting in it as the zombies or survivors. The setting fits perfectly with the theme of the trailer, however in light of this it has been done before.

There is still a lot more planning to be done with regards to this movie. 

Film Idea: The idea for my trailer

I have two ideas for the movie trailer I want to film after extensive research into what I feel I could achieve. The two ideas are: 

• A zombie apocalypse film trailer
• A action movie including murder and suspicion 

These two ideas have been favourites of mine for a while due the genre being genres in which I am interested in. I feel both would allow me to use mise en scene, sound, lighting, camera angles and many more aspects to create a thrilling trailer.

Both genres allow you to develop a range of ideas. The zombie idea would not only be great fun to film, but could include a lot of mise en scene, sound and lighting to create a good quality trailer which would be fun to watch. The zombie idea has been done before by students of my level and has been done to a good standard and I feel that I could reciprocate this with my own take on a zombie movie.  

The action idea would also be a great way to develop lots of skills. Although I feel the action themed movie would be a lot harder to pull off and create a decent quality film. However, the challenge would bring many skills and teach important things to myself. The action film would require a lot more props and characters due to it being more large scale. The location would have to be safe, but look dangerous which could potentially bring problems.

I will be needing to make a decision on which genre I am choosing to go for to complete my trailer in the next few weeks. 

'Taken' Case Study.

The idea for my film trailer has rapidly changed a lot. I have chosen to do a thriller movie instead of horror. This decision was made in light of the difficulty to make a horror trailer. I decided to do a case study on the movie trailer of 'Taken' which is a thriller/action film about a man trying to find his daughter after she is abducted to be placed in the sex slave trade.

The director of the movie trailer is ensuring that the trailer is exciting is ensuring that the trailer is kept exciting and shows the intensity of the film. One way the director has ensured the audience is engaged is largely through the music used - both non-diagetic and diagetic. The music begins calming, however here is a slight sinister sound . It is immediately interupted with a phone call. This helps to add to the idea of urgency and excitement; thus adding drama to the trailer promoting the film. The diagetic sound plays a really important part in the trailr, and it becomes the most important and thrilling part. The diagetic sound which has the most impact is when he states "I don't know who you are...but I will find you and I will kill you". The dialog helps to intensify the trailer and ensure that the concept of the film is made clear. When he is reciting this, he other music is non-diagetic and shows screams and cries - illustrating the terror, excitement and intensity of the film. The sounds in the trailer all combined help add excitement thus making the person want to see more.

The angles, shots and the actual scene all help to give the idea of the film and create suspense. The trailer constantly had quick changing shots; adding to the thrill of the film and making it action packed. The changing shots help to keep in line with the film. The trailer shows the outline of the film; showing almost what happens. This is the kind of thing I would be aiming to do - show a little bit, but not the whole story. I feel this leaves the audience in suspense and the trailer of 'Taken' made me actually watch the film because I wanted to know 'What happeneded next'.