INITIAL PLANNING

The project I will be working on for my A2 Coursework will be the

Teaser Trailer.

Trailers are promotional tools used by movie institutions such as

20th Century Fox, Dimension Films and Revolver Entertainment to

gather support for an upcoming film.

Trailers are highly condensed but must have maximum appeal to a

specific audience. In the case of a Teaser Trailer, the content is

condensed further in an attempt to provide brief, engaging

segments for the viewers to watch.

The aim of a film's teaser trailer will be to entertain the audience in

an attempt to coax them towards watching the film upon its actual

release. However, the trailer's intention is to tease the audience and

provide just enough information to keep the viewer hooked without

giving too much of the plot away.

Although trailers vary in length, my trailer will have a length

restriction of approximately 1 minute. I realise that my trailer will

have to:

Have a cliff-hanger that will intrigue the viewer and encourage

them to watch the whole film.

Provide a clear idea of what the audience can expect in the film

without giving away too much of the plot.

Use a variety of shots, quick cuts and transitions to make the trailer

more dynamic, creative and interesting.

Give the viewer a clear idea of the genre of the film.

Use props, locations and make-up suitable to the genre of the film.

The genre of trailer that I will be constructing is 'Horror'.

The aim of films from the Horror genre is to scare the audience with themes and

characters that are presented in the film.

The type of horror teaser trailer I will be constructing will be a kind of 'post-

apocalypse' trailer that will follow a single character in his survival against hordes of

zombies who have risen form the dead.

The key to the type of location that I will intend to use in my film is that it has to be a

deserted, barren location that resembles a wasteland. Also, locations that can

provide wide shots may be necessary to highlight the loneliness of the solitary

survivor.

I will intend to use various props such as papers, plastic bags and other props

that can act as debris to enhance the feel of destruction and devastation to show that

the environment is uncared for. In terms of make up, all actors whose roles will be

as the zombies will have to have make up in order to ensure they look

like convincing zombies.

Also, the costume of the characters in the trailer will have to match with the theme of

devastation; costumes will have to visibly feature wear and tear, blood and dirt.

A past Horror/Zombie film that I intend to use as a key influence on my trailer will be Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.

I will be using this specific trailer as an influence because the trailer features many shots of the main character in isolation, walking around a barren and deserted London in confusion, as he has just awoken from a coma and is unknowing of the events that have taken place.

A similar kind of synopsis will feature in my teaser trailer. I also intend to use quick cuts to increase the pacing and tempo and fade transitions to smoothly move from one scene or shot to another. In addition, myself and my partner will need to create our own, realistic movie institutions that will feature at the beginning of our trailer.

A final title that my partner and I have agreed on is 'Rise of the Dead'. We believe this title is a suitable title for a film from the horror genre and will be easily relatable to the audience. Also, we have named our institutions Urban Media Company and Zulu Productions. These institutions will feature at the beginning of the trailer.