Treatment

Claudia Gyring is a teacher whose job is wholly unfulfulling. From waking up in the morning to going to sleep at night, her life had not changed for more than twenty years. Seeking radical change, yet unsure of how or what to strive for, she is driven insane by the humdrum of everyday life. Like the flick of a switch, she transforms one night, yet the majority of the time, she stays lucid and in control, only occassionally turning into someone unrecognisable - a woman of undeniable strength and anger. Sensing that everything has changed, she becomes an introverted individual, attempting to ignore her now frequent dreams of the Devil telling her to 'kill all who don't believe.' However, as she descends more completely into madness, Ellie Smith, an eleven year old girl in one of her classes, just so happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time: kidnapped, attacked and then stowed away in Claudia's office cupboard, she is almost scared to death.As newsreaders tell the public of her disappearance, Ellie must wait for help - that is, if the police get there in time...

Audience Research - Results

 

From these results with regard to film magazines, I believe it would be in my best interest to produce a mainstream film magazine, so as to reach a wider amount of my target audience.

Audience Research Questionnaires

Below are the questions I asked in my survey (I decided to see what the overall consensus was for favourite film genres before I made any decisions on what my production would be). I used a variety of methods to collect information, including the use of the leading social media website Facebook and Yahoo! Answers in order to target any age group which I had not yet approached. I also distributed my Audience Research questionnaires through MSN (which I found easier than handing them out manually) and by hand.

1. Gender: Male/Female

2. Age Group: 16-24/25-35/36-44/45-50/50+

3. How often do you visit the cinema? (please state)

4. What is your favourite film genre? Action/Comedy/Drama/Horror/Romance/Science Fiction/Other (please state)

5. What is your preferred medium for learning about new/upcoming films? Film magazines/Internet forums/Posters/Teaser trailers/Word of mouth/Other (please state)

6. Following on from question 5, what do you think is the most effective promotional method and why?

7. How often, if at all, do you buy a film magazine? Once a week/Every fortnight/Once a month/Once a year/Never

8. Following on from question 7, if you ever purchase a film magazine, which one is it?

9. What would raise your interest in a film? Cast/Director/Familiar institution/Screenwriter/Storyline/Other (please state)

10. What is your favourite film and why?

 

 

Teaser Trailer Timeline

Below I have created a timeline for general events and different shots of a teaser trailer. Whilst I have realised that teaser trailers vary largely in terms of the way in which they present their audience the narrative of the film, I made this timeline as a very rough guideline of what traditional teaser trailers follow.

Product Research - 'Quarantine'

'Quarantine' Teaser Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Product Research - 'The Shining'

•  One of the first teaser trailers to appear, therefore hardly uses any conventions of the promos and is very simple in its approach.
• Non diegetic music sounds like a flock of angry bees as the piece reaches its highest in pitch when the blood comes crashing down into the room.
• Music begins slowly, becoming faster as time carries on. This creates a sense of urgency, in that the tension builds quickly, thus telling the audience almost straight away its film genre (convention of teaser trailers).
• Audience knows the film belongs to the horror genre because the blood acts as the flaw in the narrative - although setting is unsettling because of the non diegetic music (yet normal walls and furniture) to begin with, the blood changes all this by tainting both the furniture and white walls (symbol of innocence).
• Blood moves towards audience to create deeper sense of terror.

Product Research - 'Buried'

• Breathy phone conversation makes audience sympathise with the main character, as well as intriguing them further.
• 'I got hit on the head and I blacked out and that's the last thing I can remember' gives the audience background information on the plot without telling us why he's been 'buried' or who did this to him.
• Lack of both diegetic and non diegetic music at the beginning of the trailer creates a sense of realism for the world within the film, which further reiterates the protagonist's panic, however, the music which is used is urgent - screeching violins typical of horror genre.

Product Research - 'The Da Vinci Code'

The teaser trailer of 'The Da Vinci Code' was created before a single shot was taken for the film. This means that it relies heavily upon symbolism, diegetic or non diegetic music