Production Planning Progress

We have now come to the final stages of planning our film trailer for 'Raze'. I feel that we have developed a strong script as well as precise storyboards and we have worked well towards filming our production. All of our storyboards, including dialogue, shot type and length, have been completed and our characters have been well-constructed. I am especially proud of our character Erin which I think has been created as a complex and interesting protagonist for our film. The character profiles have been completed as well, making sure that we have created realistic and well thought-about characters who have a meaning and a specific role in the film to influence Erin's behaviour. What now needs to be done is to choose people to be these characters and especially find a strong actress, preferably with short hair already, to play Erin.

We have chosen locations that match our storyboards to create a realistic, built-up urban setting to the film to reinforce the mis-en-scene of the piece as well as keep to our initial ideas and vision of our film trailer. I am really pleased with our planning so far and I think that the plot to our production is quite edgy and original and I can imagine myself being interested in a film like 'Raze' if it was professionally produced for cinematic viewing. The synopsis to our film has been read so that, even though we are not creating a whole film, we know what key scenes of the whole film would be included in a trailer to make it exciting, appealing and captivating to the target audience. I am happy that we have chosen to create a social-realist film that has a real meaning behind it and I hope that our final edit of the trailer will successfully in vision what we want to create. Even the name of our film has been thought about thoroughly and we have discussed various names, but we wanted a meaningful and strong name which links directly to the themes of the film and what happens to Erin. we chose 'Raze' as the name of the film as it has negative connotations of destruction and demolition which links to Erin's dramatic change to a violent and angry person who has gone off the rails with no sense of remorse for her actions.

The audience to our film has been discussed appropriately to enhance our production and make sure that we are targeting our demographic audience in a successful and effective way. Codes of practice have also been addressed and we will conform to these rules to make sure that our film is a professional-style production that keeps to industry standards and rules in order to not compromise the authenticity of our trailer.

By analysing films of the same genre to our film, we have picked out the common codes and conventions of these films to use in our own media product to make the film authentic to the genre. We have produced a well-discussed, 3-dimensional story to support our trailer which i think is important to do in order to create a realistic and well-produced piece of coursework. By also analysing film magazine covers and other forms of film promotion and advertising, it will give us a better knowledge of what is used to promote films through magazines which will help us when we are producing our own cover to go with the release of our film. At the stage we are now at, we are nearly ready to start filming once we have picked the right actors and actresses to star in our film trailer. I have contacted the Performing Arts department of our college to find a good actress to play our character Erin as well as find a few more to play the role of the gang assault victim and the male gang. We will hopefully be able to start filming when the next term begins as we are ready once we have found the right actors to star in our film.

Magazine Cover Analysis

As part of our coursework, along with the film trailer we have to create a magazine cover which features our film 'Raze' on the cover. In order to do this, I will look at and analyse typical film magazine covers which i think are effective and eye-catching. Magazines such as Empire, Total Film and Sight & Sound are good examples of magazines to research in order to design and create our own film cover. Magazines are a primary way to promote upcoming films with cast interviews and film reviews, as well as TV promotion and viral videos and advertising. As magazines are fantastic ways to promote and review films as well as effectively target an audience I will look at some of the best examples I have found of effective and successful film magazine covers.

Empire

Here is an Empire cover for the release of 'Batman: The Dark Knight' which features the character 'The Joker', played by Heath Ledger, on the front cover. I think this is striking and strong magazine cover as the character's face looks sinister and threatening, making it a very intriguing and chilling front cover which would grab attention from the audience. Ledger's character is recognisable straight away as he has got the creepy, clown-like makeup with the pale skin, smudged red lips and yellow-green hair, depicting him to be the antagonist of the film just from this unnerving portrait. The way his face looks out the darkness with his face tucked down and eyes looking up, making his eye sockets look dark and shadowed creates a frightening and intimidating cover with the face filling up almost the whole of the front cover. The film logo is placed well against the pale white skin of the character which makes it stand out well to a reader. I also like how the logo of the magazine as well as the typography used on the cover matches the image as it is highlighted in a bright green which pops out on the dark background and the pale looming face of 'The Joker'.

Here is another Empire cover which promotes the release of 'Hellboy 2' in the cinema. This, again, is a very bold and striking front cover, especially with the magazine logo ignited in flames behind the 'Hellboy' character is very eye catching and links directly to the connotations that come with the word 'hell'. The main image of 'Hellboy' is bold and powerful, in a blood red colour with a fairly intimidating and confrontational expression and position on the centre of the poster. This makes this poster very effective when appealing to an audience as the image is very powerful and bold which would stand out, making it a good example of a successful film magazine cover used to promote a film. The fact that the character looks similar to what the Devil is supposed to look like makes this image quite controversial and striking as it is quite a frightening and creepy image of the character who is clenching his fist with the other hand resting on it, again making him appear very intimidating, suggesting that his character is very strong and perhaps violent and confrontational.

Total Film

Here is a Total Film cover that features the 2010 release 'Salt', starring Angelina Jolie. This cover represents this film as a gritty, action-packed thriller by the use of a blurred, flaming background. The use of this orange colour gives the idea of fire, with the colours representing heat, anger and passion which are also very bold, bright and eye catching. The logo for the magazine is designed to look like a smashed mirror, which again depicts the film as perhaps being quite violent with action-packed scenes of fights and destruction. Jolie's pose of the cover is very serious but mysterious with a 'secret agent' - type vibe as she is holding a gun in her hands, highlighting that she is a powerful, independent and perhaps dangerous but authoritative character in the film. The film name is in large, capital letters in a slightly pale and transparent, striped font which adds to the mysterious image of Jolie which would make the film seem appealing to fans of Jolie or action/thriller movies.

Here is a cover to promote the release of 'Inception'. The cover features Leonardo DiCaprio which straight away appeals to an audience who are familiar with his work or are fans of his. His character is depicted as being quite authoritative as he is wearing a suit and tie which straight away tells the audience he is an important and respected character in the film. His face is half lit by a dim light and he is holding a torch which suggests that the film is quite dark, secretive and perhaps sinister. The colours of this image are mainly blue which give connotations of coldness and sadness, in contrast to the bright red bits of typography that are on the cover which represent heat, blood and anger which implies that this film will be quite chilling and sinister with scenes of fast-paced and thrilling action and perhaps love scenes. The magazine logo is created with birds-eye images of buildings in the shapes of the letters which is a very clever and effective way of incorporating the film that is featured into the magazine properly by adapting the logo to the film. The use of these buildings create a mysterious and secretive effect which suggests that this thriller/action film may be based around a heist, for example, which involves the use of maps. The film title is in metallic grey, capital letters across the character's chest which stands out against the black and blue colours and the tag line underneath it which says 'Inside the ultimate head trip' implies that the film will be confusing and very psychological which some people may not understand.

Sight & Sound

Here is a cover for Sight & Sound which presents 'Public Enemies' as the focal point for this issue of the magazine. This cover is effective as the image is striking as it combines all the features of the film into one image which represents it perfectly. The dress code of Johnny Depp's character depicts the film to be set in the past in or around the 1930s. The fact he is holding a large gun in his hands with a focused but smug expression on his face represents the character as being a self-assured criminal. this is also supported by the typography on the cover as it reads 'gangster's special' in very large white lettering, making it the most eye-catching piece of writing on the cover, even above the film title or magazine logo. The red blood splatter in the background behind the character suggests the film is an action-packed crime thriller which involves quite a lot of violence and bloodshed in it. These ideas also come with the connotations you get from the word 'gangster' which is also supported with the stereotypical looking 1930s gangster with a machine gun, dark suit and fedora hat. The use of various types of typography is also interesting as there is a bold font teamed with two styles of hand-written scripts and an old-fashioned style typeface which is effective in highlighting the different features and parts of the texts. The logo does not adapt to the film on the cover which I think makes the cover a bit less effective than the others as the logo does not match the image and features on the page, but it is striking in the bold and bright colours which are used.

This is a Sight & Sound cover which is a special edition for the Cannes Film festival. The cover features well-known actress Penelope Cruz holding a knife. The image is eye catching because it is shocking as she is holding a blood-covered knife with a crazed and angry but subtle look on her face which makes this cover very interesting. The fact that she is holding a knife depicts the film to be about violence and murder and specifically a female involvement in crime which is unusual to a crime/horror genre as males are usually depicted as the antagonists or ones who do wrong. The colours behind her are also blood red, indicating themes of, again, violence and anger. The typography is in a bold white font which stands out against the dark-coloured red of the background but the general layout if not particularly interesting and again the magazine logo is not edited or altered to match or compliment the image like the other magazines do. The layout is a typical and standard format for this magazine with the features listed to the left of the cover.

Film Trailer Locations

Here is a brainstorm we have created to find out specifically how many locations we will need to film at for our scenes in the film trailer:
Location Brainstorm

We have 8 locations and have come up with some ideas for what these locations can be and how they would be suitable for the scenes we want to shoot:
Ideas for Locations

Here are the locations we have chosen and created recces and plans for:
Location Recces

Character Profiles

The protagonist of our film 'Raze' is the main character, Erin. We chose to use a female main character in a social realist thriller as from research we found that protagonists are usually males. We wanted to challenge the genre by using a young, female character. Other characters will be male, focusing of male youths that are part of a youth gang which influences Erin to change herself and use violence and aggression as a way to take control of her life and defend herself. The antagonist of the film will be her alcoholic mother and the teacher character is to be represented as a hero-type character who tries to help Erin.

Erin

Erin's character will show two sides to her in the trailer as she will act as both the protagonist and the antagonist. At the start of the trailer, she is quiet, lonely and isolated but later the transition from a shy girl to a bold, independent and aggressive character is shown. Her actions also highlight her as an antagonist, but the split sides of Erin's character will still make her likable and endearing as you realise she is only acting the way she is to take control of her life and rebel against the way she is treated by her mother and peers.

At the start of the trailer Erin is portrayed as a timid and lonely protagonist, a victim of her mother's rage and jeers of her peers at school. Her vulnerable and isolated character will be further shown in the way she is treated by her alcoholic mother. She has no friends and lives a reclusive life as she is an outcast at school who is picked on by both her mother and classmates. Erin's character is fragile and even though she is offered help by a teacher at school who is vaguely aware of her problematic home life, Erin refuses and chooses to remain silent in fear of seeming like she is overreacting or getting her mother, who she fears and resents so much, into trouble and angering her more. Erin's reclusive life makes it hard for her to express herself or communicate with people which makes it hard for her to ask for help as she is used to being treated badly by the people who are supposed to take care of and love her (her mother), so she finds it hard to trust anyone and confide in people.

One day, Erin cracks after seeing a group of youths attack another boy. She sees their power and is strongly influenced by their control and use of violence to get what they want, so she decides to do the same thing. She idolises their aggressive behaviour and control over their male victim. After the gang of youths leaves their innocent victim, Erin walks over to him and instead of helping him and calling an ambulance, she towers over him and revels in his vulnerability and pain as, for once, she is seeing someone weaker than her and this makes her feel powerful. At this point in the trailer, Erin's character is represented as an antagonist, making her character two-sided and complex as she battles with the good and bad sides of her own personality. Further events in the film support her antagonistic character, such as threatening her teacher, smashing bottles and cutting her hair off to make herself appear more tough. This indicates an emotional and physical change.

The battle with herself and against the life of gang violence and crime is presented through scenes in the trailer as her life is shown to spin out of control as she acts in an aggressive and hostile way towards the people who used to torment her. Also she acts aggressively towards the kind teacher who wants to help her and save her from her self-destructing ways as she knows, deep down, that Erin is just a scared and vulnerable girl from a troubled and lonely background. Her deprived and neglectful upbringing in an inner-city area is shown throughout the trailer, as she spends nights alone on the streets to escape from her home life and the trouble she is in with the police. When she returns home after facing her inability to speak to people and seek help, she comes to the realisation that her life will never improve and she can never escape from her mother.

Teacher

The female teacher at Erin's school is caring and kind and this is shown in the scene at the start of the trailer where she is asking Erin about her home life in order to help her as she is aware of her troubled life. The use of her character is to have a caring and mother-like character who acts as the reliant heroine of the film. When she first asks her pupil, Erin, about her home life Erin is reluctant to tell her anything. She does not question her any further as she isn't aware of the severity of the abuse and neglect from her mother. The caring and helpful nature of her teacher who is concerned of Erin's welfare leads to her again asking Erin about her problems when she notices a dramatic change in Erin's behaviour as she acts in a rebellious and aggressive way. Erin then threatens her teacher with a knife after getting angry with her 'nosey' questions as she is very defensive and secretive. Her teacher then realises how much Erin has changed and is aware of how troubled and confused she is so she sympathises with her and chooses not to press charges against her until she is made by the head teacher of the school which causes Erin to run away from home where she gets into more trouble. The teacher's character is the only 'hope' Erin has of escaping her dysfunctional life, but when she finally turns on the one person who cares about her, it is a sign that there is now no hope for Erin.

Mother

Erin's mother is the clear antagonist of the film. She is an alcoholic, single mother who suffers from depression and anger problems which she cannot control around her daughter. She takes out most her aggression on her daughter and spends her time in the house getting drunk. She is unemployed and divorced so her and her daughter's life is quite poor, deprived and dependant on benefits. Her depression spurred from when her husband left her and her daughter and she blames her daughter for this misfortune, using her as a verbal and sometimes physical punch bag to vent her anger and frustration. She is especially violent and aggressive when she has drunk a lot and her verbal abuse is the cause of her daughter's isolated and quiet personality and her inability to express her emotions. Erin's mother does not provide well for her daughter and has never been a good role model or mother figure when she was growing up and instead was neglectful and unkind to her daughter due to her selfish ways and self-indulgent and destructive alcoholism. Her mother does not express her worries or feelings to her daughter as she does not want to lose the control she has and show any weakness, but she secretly is concerned about her daughter and her isolated and, later, violent and crime-related life. She struggles with expressing herself in a healthy way so instead uses force and hostile behaviour towards her daughter which is an inspiration in itself which leads to Erin's drastic change.

Gang

The gang of male youths are the primary influence of Erin's drastic change. When she sees them attacking another male, she sees their use of violence to be controlling and she idolises them in a warped way. This group of boys are the ones who go to her school and are thugs and bullies who use intimidation and aggression to have power over others. Erin craves control over her life and to stand up for herself. She wants people to view her differently so by watching their actions and behaviour she decides to copy them. This group of boys are notorious for being violent and forceful and the gang is all-male, apart from some girls who hang around with them. Erin's idolisation of the gang is in a very strange and warped way as she sees their hostile behaviour and idolises it which is disturbing in itself. These girls that are also in the gang are prominent characters in the film trailer as they are a strong influence to Erin and Erin also has a fight with one of the girls in the scene after a previous scene of them throwing an apple at her head at the start of the trailer. She is jealous of them as they are a gang which have each other's support which she craves as she is a lonely and isolated outcast. Also, the way the girls are treated by the male gang members makes Erin jealous and leads to her feeling more frustrated and angry as she is rejected by a group who she wants acceptance from.

Male Victim

The victim of the male gang's aggression is also a key influence in Erin's transition. When she sees him lying helplessly on the floor, she feels a sense of power and is happy to see someone more vulnerable and weak that her. When she stands over him after he has been attacked and he is lying and bleeding on the floor, she has a strange moment which makes her realise that being forceful and violent will successfully give her the control of her life and over other people that she longs for so much. When Erin faces the victim he acts as her reflection, as he is also an outcast of youth society and is bullied and victimised like Erin is. This is a key moment where Erin chooses who she wants to be. By watching him being vulnerable and weak, Erin realises she doesn't want to be a victim any more and this is a vital moment which sparks her emotional and physical change. This moment shows Erin's new character emerge as a cold, hostile and defensive girl by rejecting a person similar to her who she can relate to and could potentially be friends with and instead chooses to become someone who, as her former self, would fear.

Audience Profile and Audience Analysis

Audience Profile
Demographic Features: Social Class, Gender, Age, Sexuality & Interests

Our film is going to be a social realist, action film which focuses on the life of Erin - a teenage girl in a working class society. She is a lonely and vulnerable character who has been brought up by a neglectful and alcoholic single mother who is aggressive and verbally abusive to her daughter. This abuse makes her isolated and quiet which makes her a target for school bullies so her social life is non existent. Our aim is to to create a character that an audience can relate to and also provide an explanation for why many youths today are antisocial and violent, as many rebellious youths come from a bad background full of neglect, abuse and isolation. Our female character is shown to take on masculine characteristics in the way she is violent and aggressive and the fast-paced action scenes of the film would appeal to a male, teenage audience. The storyline of Erin's struggle to take control of her life and the battle with herself shows the different sides to her - anger, loneliness, frustration and vulnerability - will be relate-able to teenager girls who face those feeling when they are growing up.

The primary audience for 'Raze' is young adults, aged 15-21 which is why the certificate for our film is a 15. The demographic features of our audience are an important consideration when making the film seem realistic and relate-able as that is our aim. The audience will be working class teenagers who are brought up in a similar society to our main character as social class is a key feature of our film as Erin is a young girl from a working class upbringing. Some scenes of our trailer are to be filmed in a comprehensive school which also highlights social class as she is from quite a deprived and poor background. Other scenes are to be shot in her home which is a small council flat, again implying that Erin is not from a wealthy family and faces struggles that many working class youths face as they grow up in a modern society full of high expectations.

The secondary audience we want to target with our film is adults aged 21+ who may be interested in social realist films about British culture or parents who have an interest in understanding some issues teenagers and their own children face today. Adults who are also aware of the stereotypes and negative press about today's youths would also be targeted in this film as it provides and explanation for why some teenagers act the way they do. This older audience may be from different classes and backgrounds but may have interest in this film to understand today's teenagers. Other adults may find our film appealing if they are from a troubled background or lived in a similar area and faced similar problems that Erin does. This would help them become reconnected with today's youth culture and feel a sense of familiarity with some characters.

The setting of our 'Raze' is an inner-city area in London, so the audience from a similar area would be aware of the struggles of youths and the problems that they face. For example, the general outlook on youths from the government's point of view is that youths are antisocial, violent and disrespectful. Stereotypes like these that are broadcast in the media to represent the youths in today's society are frustrating and provoke anger among youths who then have little or no support for the government who label them in this way. As well as this, many youths may act in this way to kick back at a society that they see to have failed them while they were growing up, whether it be in education, future employment or in family issues which were never helped or resolved by those in society whose job it is to help. Generally, it is working class youths that are labelled this way so we want to represent their anger and frustration in our film as well as provide an explanation for why youths may act in a disrespectful and delinquent way.

Age and social class are key features in our film but sexuality will not really be represented, apart from Erin's masculine traits which may be questioned as relating to her sexuality. Erin's character does not have a romantic interest in the film to distract her and there will be no sexual or romantic scenes as the film is to be gritty, raw and powerful. Gender roles are very important in our film, as Erin's mother is highlighted as the antagonist as she is an aggressive and neglectful alcoholic who mistreats her daughter and sets a bad example for her, which then leads her into a life of violence and crime. Erin's change of appearance as she reinvents herself as a tough, violent and independent character is important when considering representation of gender as she is still female but is taking on masculine characteristics that she witnessed when some male youths attacked another male. She uses these hegemonic masculine traits to be strong, intimidating and in control to assert her new found Independence and status. This would relate to a male audience as well as a female audience who may use violence or intimidation to be controlling or to assert their position in youth society as may provoke a reaction from an audience who could review or question their own actions after viewing it on screen.

Interests of the audience would be quite similar, as they would share a liking of music as many teenagers do. The film does not target a group of youths who like a particular genre of music as the 'hoodie' culture of the film mainly revolves around genres such as rap, hip-hop, R n B, grime, drum n bass and dub step. The audience would not specifically be interested in this music, but mainly an audience who are involved in such youth culture would find this film appealing. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are a large part of modern youth culture so this a large interest of the target audience. TV and film would be another interest of the audience who may watch programmes like Skins and Misfits and like films like Harry Brown and Kidulthood which are of a similar genre to our film. Socialising would be a key part of the audience's life which would perhaps appear more important to them than education or future prospects which is a view that many teenagers from all generations, past and present, have. Appearance would be an important feature in the lives of the target audience as many teenagers today are very involved in the way they look and how they are perceived by friends and peers.

Audience Analysis
Environment, Expectations & Interest

The environment in which the 'Raze' would be viewed links to the demographic of our audience as it would have to target them when they are watching particular programmes. The trailer would be played during an advert break of some Channel 4 or E4 dramas, such as Skins, Misfits, This is England '86 and The Inbetweeners which are all popular among the target audience. These dramas also tackle problems that teenagers can relate to - social and family problems, drugs, alcohol, sexuality etc. In the cinema, the film would be shown at showings of films of a similar genre or films that would have the same audience, perhaps showings of horror or specific comedy films, as well as thrillers and action films. It would be a good idea to show the films on 'Orange Wednesdays' at Cineworld where many teenagers who generally have a low income go to the cinema as you get two for one tickets. The location of the showings of the film would also be important, so large towns or cities would be the best place to show this type of film as the location of the film is inner-city in London. Cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham would be key places to promote the film as the youths in these cities would face similar problems as Erin does in a working class, struggling society. The same cities would also be best suited for wide-spread advertising such as billboards and posters on buses and at bus stops.

An audience who is watching a trailer for a social realist, action thriller would expect to see a lot of fast-paced action and scenes of violence. The fact that it is social realist film would also have expectations as the film must seem realistic and that the events in the film would be possible in 'real life', although some dramatisation would be expected to make the film a little more interesting and exciting. As the film is supposed to be a real and raw representation of modern youth culture, expectations would be that the audience can relate to the characters and the events that happen in the film as they are of a similar age and social class. It would be completely different if our target audience were to be middle class adults as they would not expect to relate to the on-screen events but we want our audience to feel a relation to what they are seeing so they can get really involved in the storyline of the film and feel that as a teenager, they are not watching the negative stereotypes that are generated through the media to generalise the behaviour of today's youths. As the trailer will feature scenes of Erin being aggressive and violent as well as lonely and vulnerable, the audience will expect to see a powerful and realistic transition between the two sides of Erin. A feeling of empathy for Erin's character would also be expected as the vulnerable and lonely side to her will be shown as well as an explanation for her actions in the scenes of her mother.

Interest in the film would be provoked by the representation of the characters. It is important to understand why the audience would find the film appealing and want to watch it and apply this to how we portray our characters and effectively conform to our chosen genre to reach out to attract the target audience and fulfil their expectations. Interest would be sparked by the content of the trailer showing scenarios and emotions that the audience can relate to or understand. Scenes of violence and action would spark an interest, especially with a male audience and a female audience could be interested by the use of a female protagonist. The film's aim is to represent issues that are present in society today which could reach out to the audience who face the same problems of the main character or who are generally interested in modern British social realist films which focus on contemporary youth culture.

Advertising Industry Codes of Practice

The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code)
Here are some industry codes of practice that we will comply with when producing our film trailer. As we are using under eighteen year olds as our characters, it is important to follow the rules of what is acceptable to broadcast. Rules about bullying, violence, offence and vulnerability all apply to our trailer as our main character is a vulnerable, young girl so it is important that this character would not influence a young audience or the events in the trailer would not condone or support violence, alcoholism or bullying. Representation of stereotypes is also vital as this is a strong theme in our film as we are playing upon common ideologies of modern British society, so it is key that the representations of stereotypes in our film are not overly offensive, humiliating or misleading.

Scenes of violence will need to be addressed especially as we can not show violence in a supportive or positive way. As the use of violence in the trailer will be to show Erin's transition from a quiet and vulnerable school girl to a violent gang member, it does not show it in a positive way. The use of violence is explained as Erin's way of controlling her life and gaining the attention she always craved after a neglectful, abusive and isolated childhood. Erin's mother being an alcoholic in the film offers an explanation as to why Erin changes and alcoholism will not be positively represented in our trailer as her mother is shown to be a bitter and aggressive person, highlighting the negative aspects of alcohol.

Erin's vulnerable and lonely character must not be seen to do anything that would influence a young audience, for example go off with any strangers so we need to be careful when representing her at the beginning of the trailer as she is young and naive. Her transition to a violent gang member must not be shown in a positive light or to give an audience any excuse to act in the same way, so the well being of a young and influential teenage audience must be considered. Scenes such as Erin smashing her mother's bottles of alcohol onto the kitchen floor highlight the consideration of health and safety for our audience, as well as the general use of alcohol within our trailer.

The trailer cannot contain highly offensive scenes as trailers are generally played throughout the day on television before the watershed so swearing or overly-violent scenes cannot be featured. All the scenes in our trailer that involve bullying, taunting or violence will be ensured to not represent them in a positive way at all, but they are used as an explanation as to why Erin changes and what happens to her after she changes. They are used for dramatic effect and they have explanations for each scene so mindless violence or aggression is not shown without a reason.

6.1 Offence
Advertisements must not cause serious or widespread offence against
generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards, or offend against public
feeling
Notes:
(1) Although no list can be exhaustive, and values evolve over time, society
has shared standards in areas such as:
(a) the portrayal of death, injury, violence (particularly sexual violence),
cruelty or misfortune
(b) respect for the interests and dignity of minorities
(c) respect for spiritual beliefs, rites, sacred images etc
(d) sex and nudity, and the use of offensive language. (For further
information see the ITC research reports Nudity in Television Advertising and
the ASA/ITC report Delete Expletives. The latter reports on attitudes to
swearing and offensive language.)
(2) The ASA does not judge cases simply, or even primarily, on the number of
complaints received. It makes judgements about the likelihood of widespread
offence as well as taking into account the possibility of deep, usually
unintentional, offence to sections of the audience which have particular
vulnerabilities.
(3) Particular circumstances can result in otherwise unobjectionable material
causing offence. For example, a joke may cease to be acceptable if it seems
to refer to a recent tragedy or if it appears close to a programme about a
serious, related issue. On the other hand, if material might be on the edge of
acceptability for a general audience but would be perfectly acceptable to, for
example, young adults, careful scheduling in ‘youth’ programmes may be
sufficient to avoid causing offence.
(4) Whilst commercials for media products such as CDs and videos must not
mislead about their content, any extracts from the products should not cause
offence.

6.2 Violence and cruelty
(a) Advertisements must not encourage or condone violence or cruelty
(b) Gratuitous and realistic portrayals of cruel or irresponsible treatment of
people or animals are not acceptable
Notes to 6.2:
(1) Careful judgements are needed in this area. ‘Theatrical’ violence (for
example, the mayhem common in action/adventure films) is generally
acceptable, as is violence which has a stylised ‘cartoon’ or slapstick quality.
Problems are more likely to arise where the violence seems to take place in
everyday life and to involve ordinary people. However, care should be taken
to avoid giving young viewers the impression that copying wrestling, martial
arts etc would be safe, harmless fun.
(2) Advertisements must not appear to condone people using violence or
aggression to get their own way in everyday life.
(3) Jokes about or involving violence require care and will usually need to be
distanced from everyday life by being, for example, in cartoon form.
(4) Scenes which would otherwise be inappropriate may be acceptable to the
audience in, for example, charity advertising or newsreel footage in
advertisements for news media.
(5) Timing restrictions are necessary for advertising featuring violence. See
7.4.6 (Distress) and 7.4.7 (Scheduling) below


6.6 Harmful or negative stereotypes
Advertisements must not prejudice respect for human dignity or humiliate,
stigmatise or undermine the standing of identifiable groups of people
Notes:
(1) The ASA and BCAP recognise that the use of stereotypes is an inevitable
part of establishing characters within the brief span of a TV commercial. But
some stereotypes can be harmful or deeply insulting to the groups in question
and care is needed that they do not condone or feed prejudice or perpetuate
damaging misconceptions. The ASA and BCAP would not, however, object to
the use of stereotypes which, though objectionable to a few people, seem
generally acceptable to most members of the group in question as well as to
the broader public.
(2) Mild comments or humour about many characteristics can be harmless but
sensitivity is always needed. Acceptability may depend on whether the
characteristic is simply a matter of personal choice and whether it is of
relatively minor significance. For example, hairstyles or hobbies lie at the
‘safer’ end of the spectrum whilst characteristics such as accent, disability,
nationality and skin colour are at or towards the ‘sensitive’ end. Even gentle
humour involving the latter characteristics has significant potential for offence
or distress.
(3) Anything which could encourage or condone the idea that some serious
negative characteristic is associated with a particular group must be avoided.
(4) Particular sensitivity is required where the group in question is generally
recognised to encounter prejudice. The kind of humour which may be
acceptable in other contexts can seem patronising or demeaning in these
cases.
(5) Care is needed with stereotypes of children to avoid the risk of taunting or
bullying. Children who are ‘different’ physically or in their behaviour, ability or
background must not be presented as unpopular or unsuccessful. Nor should
they normally be presented as non-users of a product or service or unworthy
of it. Even if an advertisement portrays only adults being stereotyped, an illjudged
stereotype could still be harmful to children (for example, by
encouraging bullying).
(6) Experience has shown that well-meaning attempts by commercial
advertisers to counter prejudice about, for example, race or disability can
sometimes backfire. Appropriate guidance should be sought.
(7) Further background about public attitudes to stereotyping can be found in
the ITC research report Boxed In.


6.7 Health and safety
Advertisements must not encourage or condone behaviour prejudicial to
health and safety and advertisements must not use techniques that may
directly harm viewers
Notes:
(1) This does not prevent responsible advertising for products and services
which, used to excess or abused, could endanger health or safety.
(2) The use of proper safety equipment or working practices must not be
mocked or discouraged.
(3) Tools, hazardous substances etc should normally be shown being used
and stored in accordance with their manufacturers’ instructions, relevant law
and safety regulations.
(4) Where appropriate, licensees should seek appropriate ‘best practice’
advice relating to activities which can be dangerous, either in all
circumstances or if undertaken without proper precautions. Relevant sources
might be the codes of statutory bodies, statements of established public policy
or published guidance from recognised independent safety organisations.
(5) Photo-Sensitive Epilepsy: See Ofcom’s Guidance Note for Licensees on
Flashing Images and Regular Patterns in Television.

7.4.3 Bullying
Advertisements must not encourage or condone bullying
Notes:
(1) Except in appropriate charity or public service advertising, advertisements
should not normally show scenes of bullying, taunting or teasing, or of children
being ostracised or criticised behind their backs.
(2) Care is needed with stereotypes of children to avoid the risk of bullying.
Children who are ‘different’ physically or in behaviour, ability or background
must not be presented as unpopular or unsuccessful. Nor should they
normally be presented as non-users of a product or service or unworthy of it.
However, even if an advertisement portrays only adults being stereotyped, an
ill-judged stereotype could still be harmful to children (for example, by
encouraging bullying).

7.4.4 Vulnerability
Advertisements must neither encourage children to go off alone or with
strangers nor show them doing so

Film Synopsis - 'Raze'

The film depicts the everyday struggles faced by Erin, a young timid teenage girl who is out casted by her peers at school in a crowded inner city area of London. As loneliness and silence becomes too much for her to bare, with her mothers alcoholism on a steep incline along with the physical abuse as a result of this and the constant taunting at school due to Erin's inability to communicate with those around her, Erin goes about her day with a sense of emptiness and its clear her lust for life is diminished, much like it is also non existent in the bleak grey of the inner city council estate that she calls home, or is some what trapped in. When Erin witnesses some boys from her school beat up a boy from her class due to sheer boredom, Erin sits by watching and does nothing to help, envious of the power and fear that the young boys exert onto others. She lurches over the bruised boy, simply staring as if to show she has had enough of life in this area and had enough of being on the weak side.

We then see Erin's character spiral out of control, into a girl who makes people see her and uses violence and aggression as a way of communicating and gaining what she wants. This creates a vast opposite to the Erin that we see as an audience a the beginning of the story. She goes home and confronts her mother, smashing her alcohol bottles and finally having a voice, sending her mother into shock and realisation about her behaviour. She then cuts off all of her hair, indicating both an emotional and physical change in her character as she takes control of her life, through turning to violence and crime as a way of gaining power, security and control within the estate, going into school and making herself heard with the use of violence to other school kids. After holding a knife to her own teacher who had previously offered support and guidance to her, Erin sees the fear in the woman's eyes which only pushes her to seek more power. She flees the premise and is forced to sleep on the streets with no way of returning to her home, due to fear of arrest. As Erin spends each night alone on the streets in the darkness she begins to realise that she is once again alone and empty and as a viewer we see the realisation of what she has done on her face as she tries to come to terms with the changes she made to herself as well as returning to a stable way of thinking.

This film shows how a young girl is forced into a life of violence, crime and abuse as a way of surviving the harsh realities of inner city gang culture and the poverty ridden life of those with nothing but the clothes they have on their back. This social realist film hopes to give explanation, not reason, as to why these youths may become the way that they are, and hopes to show in many cases that it is not through choice.

Our Research & Planning

So far, we have started planning our film trailer after researching films of the same genre. We are going to create a social realist action thriller which focuses on youth crime and gang violence in Britain today. We have decided to use, after researching thrillers, a female lead character to challenge these common codes and conventions and offer another alternative view on a teenage life in UK society. We want to offer an explanation for why some teenagers may become antisocial, violent and disrespectful but there is a fine line between giving an explanation and appearing to be condoning what we are showing. In this case, we will have to make sure it is clear that what we are producing does not support or positively portray violence or antisocial behaviour, but is simply reflecting the lives of a minority of British youths whose lives are troubled so they turn to crime and violence as a way of gaining control of their lives and rebelling against a society that may have failed them. Some scenes will obviously have to be a bit dramatised to make the film more exciting and action-filled to conform to codes and conventions of the genre.

Our film's key theme is the representation if gender, as our female main character - Erin- starts as appearing weak, timid and vulnerable. A physical and emotional transition is triggered which makes her change dramatically and take control of her life by using aggression and force to gain the attention and control she has always wanted. Our main character will hopefully appeal to both male and female teenage audiences, as I know that I, as a female viewer, really enjoyed other films such as Harry Brown, Shank, Adulthood and Kidulthood which are of a similar genre but have male protagonists. Our character aims to be relate-able, not in the way she is violent, but in her vulnerability and loneliness due to her neglectful and isolated past. Our aim for this trailer is to appeal to a wider audience and involve females more in this genre by representing them in a different way to the norm - as strong and controlling with hints of naivety and insecurity which will make the character quite endearing as she is not acting the way she is for a mindless reason.

We have now chosen a name for our film. We have decided to call in 'Raze' as we wanted to look for a word that was similar to the themes of the film so we looked up words such as wreck, crash and derailed as Erin's character goes off the rails and out of control. We found the word 'raze' which means: destroy, ruin, knock down and flatten which we thought was suitable for our film as Erin's character aims to use violence to control her life and others around her, not worrying who or what she destroys while doing this. The way the word is spelt with a 'Z' makes it quite sharp and edgy which would represent the film's grittiness, as well as being a simple and bold title which I think will work as a strong name for our thriller film.

Script & Storyboards

Here are the complete storyboards for our film trailer for 'Raze':



Here is the full script for our production:

Feedback Comments

Feedback sheets were handed out to our class when we gave our planning presentation and the feedback received about our planning of our trailer so far were mainly positive. Some weaknesses or limitations were highlighted which will need to be addressed and sorted before we start filming.

Our plan to produce a social realist film trailer which represents youth culture in a negative way was positively commented on and our research into the film trailers such as Shank and Harry Brown were described as relevant and successful as we studied the common conventions of those thriller and action trailers. This allowed us to apply that to our own ideas and we decided to challenge the common feature of thrillers which is a male main character. Our decision to use a female youth as our central feature of the film was received well as it shows us taking on board common features of the trailers we researched and deciding to do something a bit more different and challenging.

The films we studied link to our planned demographic and the feedback we received agrees that the characters and narrative of the film would be aimed well towards our chosen audience of teenagers 15+ as our character, Erin, is aged 16 and faces problems and insecurities that many teenagers face in today’s society. Our theme of youth culture and social problems is also a realistic idea which adds to the social realist genre we want. The more violent scenes have been reviewed questionably, as they may be a limitation we face, as we cannot have the scenes too graphic as the certificate we have chosen is a 15 and you can't have overly graphic and violent scenes in film trailers. Also, scenes of violence would be hard to film and to try and make them look realistic, so a solution we could have is to film the build up to a violent scene and cut before hostility occurs which could work effectively when adding suspense and mystery to our thriller trailer.

The representations of gender and class support the social representation of our main character which has been reviewed positively. A limitation that has been recognised is how the stereotypes we are representing may be offensive or misleading to the public and especially those who fall into that stereotype so we will need to be careful in our representations. Also, our idea of having our main character’s personality and appearance develop and change noticeably through the trailer had good feedback and I think the idea would be effective when building towards the climax of the trailer, with scenes of action and violence becoming faster-paced and more frequent. This would also be effective when building suspense and anticipation among an audience.

Other limitations highlighted from the feedback we received included the fact that it may be difficult for the audience to understand our representation of the female character in relation to her problems which cause her to change. By featuring her mother’s alcoholism and her negative experience of being bullied in school would highlight that Erin is a lonely and unhappy character. By using dress codes and changing her physical appearance, Erin’s transition and change will be noticeable. Her actions and the events that feature in the later part of the trailer will also shown an obvious change as she acts in a violent and hostile manner which is a huge contrast to her quiet and shy personality at the beginning of the trailer.

Planning, Research and Ideas Presentation

This presentation shows our initial ideas and how our research influenced and helped with our ideas. The first brainstorm of ideas is linked below as well as our SWOT analysis which highlights our strengths and weaknesses as a group.

Planning Brainstorm
SWOT Analysis
Presentation 1
Presentation 2

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Film: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Thriller

This Crime/Thriller is based around the female heroine Lisbeth Salander - an antisocial but intelligent computer hacker and researcher. Her physical appearance is quite dark and masculine, as she has short black hair with shaved sides and facial piercings, as well as tattoos on her body which is thin and not particularly feminine. I will analyse how this female character is represented in this thriller as we are producing a film trailer with a thriller genre that features a female as the main character.

The trailer starts with ashot of the back of Lisbeth with her hood up, walking down a subway - a lonely and dark figure. This cuts to her sat in front of a computer and typing quickly which links to her job as a computer hacker and researcher. This then cuts to a scene of Lisbeth punching a man in the face and him falling to the ground, highlighting her strength and masculine traits as the heroine of the film. This then cuts to a shot of a large tattoo of a dragon on a female's back with the voice over saying ' I have to warn you, Lisbeth is a kind of special girl'. At this point, the non-diegetic music of the trailer becomes a bit more sinister and fast-paced.

Lisbeth is then shown to be riding a motorcycle which is a typically masculine form of transport. Her dresscode is very dark and unfeminine. She wears mainly black clothing - jeans and leather jackets all the way through the trailer which highlights that her dresscode represents that she is quite an interesting and dark character with a sinister past. Despite appearing quite masculine, Lisbeth is shown to use her sexuality a a couple of point in the trailer, implying that she has quite a feminine and 'sexy' side to her when mainly being quite reserved, serious and at times violent. In the trailer there is a point where an older man is stood over her, stroking her face and talking about her psychological problems and 'violent past'. This is the first point where you see her character as weak and subdued as this man seems to have authority over her. This scene then cuts to her turning round as if she is about to hit the person that is walking towards her, which regains her image as being strong and independent.

It is only at the end of the trailer that you see Lisbeth speak directly, although you hear her voice during the trailer as a non-diegetic voiceover. The last scene of the trailer shows her lying in bed with a male voice saying 'You know everything about me and I know shit about you', to which she replies 'Nope, that's the way it is.' This adds a lot of mystery and suspense to the trailer as you then want to find out more about Lisbeth's past and why she is the way she is as the trailer hints a troubled background.

Overall, the way Lisbeth's character as a female heroine of the film is represented in quite a masculine way. Her dresscode and fairly androgynous look with her piercings, tattoos, short hair and manly clothes portrays her to be a mysterious and haunted character with an interesting back story. As a female protagonist in a thriller film, Lisbeth is quite stereotypically masculine, which may also be a representation of her sexuality as she is a lesbian. She rides a motorcycle, wears dark clothes and is seen to be very strong and violent at times in the trailer which are typically a male's characteristics in films of the same genre. This indicates that as a female main character in an action and thriller film, Lisbeth takes on masculine traits to make her seem more tough and self-supporting. She does not act like a typical representation of a female in an action film which is the 'damsal in distress' role who depends on the male character to help her. This is what we aim to do in our own film trailer, by representing our own female character as strong, independent and aggressive with a masculine appearance and characteristics to highlight her extreme transition from a weak and quiet young girl to a tough and violent thug.

Harry Brown (2009)

Film: Harry Brown
Directed By: Daniel Barber
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller

The trailer for the British Thriller 'Harry Brown' is fast-paced, bold and raw which is effective and intriguing for a viewer. I have chosen it as an example of a successful and exciting trailer as it draws you in and builds suspense and anticipation throughout.

It starts with a shot of city buildings and blocks of flats at night, setting the scene as a dark film based in a city area, adding to the mis-en-scene of the film. The non-diegetic music is ominous and sounds like a ticking clock, therefore adding suspense and a sense of tension from the start. There is a shot of an elder man (Michael Caine - Harry Brown) looking out of a window down on the street where a gang of youths are breaking into a car and beating someone up, with the sound of a car alarm ringing. The dresscodes of the youths are important when creating a realistic representation of real life and the way the youths dress are in tracksuits and hoodies, highlighting the use of common stereotypes and ideologies in the film - youths being antisocial, violent and disrespectful and wearing hooded tops. There is a voice over of an old man's voice saying 'I'm scared Harry, kids on the estate. I'm not gonna take it any more'. The accent of the man is a London 'cockney' accent, reinforcing the audience's understanding of the film's setting. This voice over cuts from the violent scenes to two older men speaking to each other in a dimly lit hallway. The use of lighting and lack of natural light or colour from the beginning acts as a pathetic fallacy to set the scene of a dark and bleak film.

There is a shot of a ignited object being dropped through a letterbox and onto a carpet where smoke starts to rise. The sound of coughing links into a shot of an old man sat in an armchair in a room full of smoke, and then him running outside onto a balcony into the night to escape the smoke. He then yells 'Bastards!' which cuts to a scene of a gang of youths below him jeering, yelling and throwing objects at him. This cuts to a quick shot of a hand holding a mobile phone with a video of the youths attacking the man in a subway. This implies the man's helplessness and lack of authority in his area as youths are disrespectful to the elderly and rule and control the estate. This jump cuts to a shot of a young male smirking with the light dim and unnatural. The mobile phone video is shown, jerky and abrupt, supported by loud jeers and a loud noise that sounds like a metal door slamming.

The first scenes set in the day are then shown, as Harry Brown is visited by a female officer who inform him that his elderly friend had been killed by the youths from the estate who had assaulted him. The dresscodes of the police officers are smart, highlighting their authority and their higher class. From here onwards there is a non-diegetic tick of a clock or bomb which builds tension and acts as a signal that something big is going to happen. Harry is then shown to be sobbing, which cuts to a shot of him walking past the underground pedestrian walkway at night. A quick shot of inside the subway is shown, with the white male who was smirking previously in the trailer is stood with a female who is backed against the graffiti-covered wall with his arm against her, in an aggressive and controlling pose. This quickly cuts to Harry standing in the rain looking upset and distressed and turning away and quickly walking from the subway. The use of graffiti in the pedestrian walkway adds to the theme of youth crime as it is a symbol of vandalism and the youths in the subway are both white and young, dressed in 'chavvy' clothing - hoodies and tracksuits.

The next scenes in the trailer involve the white male being arrested for suspicion of murder followed by another two young, white males sitting in a police interview room, one saying 'I don't know nothing' and the other saying 'No comment'. The accents of these males are again strong London accents, reinforcing the idea of location and class. This cuts to a scene of Harry standing alone against his friends grave which links to a scene of the white male who was arrested speaking defiantly to the police telling them that they have to let him go. This scene fades to black which then fades into a scene of Harry speaking to the female police officer in an irritable way. There is then a dimly-lit shot of the white male standing against a a metal fence with an aggressive and intimidating expression which cuts to a shot of Harry holding a photograph of his friend with Harry's voice saying 'He killed Leonard'. This effectively builds suspense and gives the audience a more developed idea of the plot of the film.

Harry is then shown to be shouting at the police woman, telling her that they have done 'nothing' about the death of his friend Leonard. This cuts to a scene of Harry stood in a dark area with a hooded figure holding a knife emerging from the darkness saying 'Give me your money, man'. This jump cuts to a scene of Harry leaning his head against the tiles of his shower with water running over him, adding mystery to the trailer as you don't know what happened after he was threatened with a knife by the youth. From here, the non-diegtic soundtrack to the trailer picks up and becomes more epic and loud, building more suspense and anticipation among the audience. There are further shots of Harry walking around the flats where he lives and to a black male saying in a South London slang accent 'When someone comes to you, you need to be taller' which implies the youth gang culture of status, violence and authority. This cuts to a scene of Harry standing in a dark doorway saying 'I'd like to do some business...I want a gun'. He is speaking to a thin, white topless male with greasy hair and scars all over his body. This gives connotations to the audience that he is an antagonist of the film, just from his physical appearance and dress code.

The next scenes are inside a dimly lit, untidy flat with a an unconscious young female laid on a sofa, with two rough and dangerous looking white males. Harry says 'Is she ok? Maybe we should take her to the hospital'. It this point the topless male fires a shot out of his gun, implying his higher position and authority in the situation, as well as the fact that he is an untrustworthy and dangerous character. He then whispers 'she's my business', pointing the gun at Harry threateningly. From this point, the ominous non-diegetic soundtrack changes to a modern drum and bass song by Chase and Status, which is the film's main theme music track. This adds to the mis-en-scene of the trailer, with this music representing the elements of youth culture, and the fast drum beat builds suspense along with the past-paced editing towards the climax of the trailer. Michael Caine is formally introduced as 'Harry Brown' at this point in the trailer.

The non-diegetic voice over is of the female police officer saying that Harry Brown is the 'chief suspect', implying that she is suspicious of the man's actions. Her accent is well spoken in contrast to the other characters, implying her higher social class, status and authority. This aligns with scenes of Harry holding a gun and dousing a room in petrol to set it alight. The female officer's voice says 'He was in the Royal Marines, he's killed before.' This links with very dark clips of Harry standing in a dimly lit area and a scene of a parked car and a loud ambient sound of a gunshot. The music stops after this gunshot and goes to a black screen which fades into a scene of Harry stood over a male who is tied to a chair with a bag on his head with Harry saying 'What happened with Leonard? He's the man you and your mates murdered'. He then strikes the young male and you hear a loud yell which signals the music to resume and the fast-paced trailer to continue. This interlude shows the audience that Harry is seeking revenge for his friend's death and is no longer being a victim under the youths and is taking control.

The next scenes lead towards the climax of the trailer, with a wall of riot police with shields fighting a fire riot. Positive reviews of the film flash up along with high action shots, adding to the anticipation and build-up of the film. There is a scene of two cars colliding and Harry looking out of his window at the youth gang, with the male police officer's voice saying 'As far as I'm concerned, Harry Brown's doing us a favour' which shows the audience that Harry's violent actions are only for the greater good and how the film will be a battle of morals and pride. Further reviews flash up with shots of a car windscreen smashing and Harry firing a gun and the gang of youths throwing objects surrounded by burning cars and other objects and Harry saying 'To them out there, it's just entertainment' in a distressed and anguished voice. The next part of the trailer builds towards the end, with very fast-paced shots including a lot of gun fire, explosions, car crashes and shouting, making the film seem very high-action, violent and chaotic. There is then a shot of a barrel of a gun firing which blends into the main credit which has 'Harry Brown' written against a black background. Harry Brown's voice is heard over this, saying 'You failed to maintain your weapon' which links to a shot of his standing over someone with a gun and then firing it.

The use of guns in the trailer imply that it is quite a violent crime thriller and the amount of action scenes make the film look very exciting a fast paced. The use of an older man as the main character challenged common ideologies about elderly people but the use of youths being shown in a negative way uses common stereotypes and ideologies of society. The use of accents and dress codes is important which representing characters effectively and creating a realistic effect. The cut from an ominous piece of music with a ticking sound which bursts into the drum and bass song is effective when building suspense and the use of this music towards the end of the trailer with the fast editing and action shots if very effective and the music also adds to the theme of modern youth culture. I think this trailer is brilliant, as the contrast between old and new generations is shown which is quite a common issue in modern society and the use of a powerful, older character is different and challenges society.

Shank (2010)

Film: Shank

Directed By: Mo Ali

Genre: Action/Thriller

I have chosen this trailer for the British action film Shank (2010), by the makers of Kidulthood and Adulthood which stars young British actors Adam Deacon, Kaya Scodelario and Ashley 'Bashy' Thomas. I have picked this trailer as a successful and effective example of how a trailer draws in an audience and productively informs and advertises the film's contents without giving too much away.

The trailer starts with a man kicking a punchbag in a gym, with non-diegetic sound of overlapping voices shouting which sounds like the beginning to a song, with the scratchy sound of radio tuning. The production companies logos; Revolver, Gateway Films and Gunslinger, flash up quickly on the screen and then a scratchy and blurred screen with 'From The Distributor that bought you Kidulthood' written on it is shown, which would target their audience at an early stage. This then jump-cuts to a shot of legs sprinting down a road and being chased by a motorcycle, to a slow-motion shot of the boy jumping over a ledge. Over the top of this, there is non-diegetic speech of a man speaking which cuts to a scene of the black male holding the back of his young brother's head saying 'I love you right'. The use of accents from the start adds to the mis-en-scene of the film trailer and the accents of the characters are all strong London accents, featuring alot of youth slang. Then there is a shot of the younger boy looking up at his brother. That shot is then blended into a black screen which then cuts to various shots from the film such as a motorcycle hurtling down a street, the boy flipping over a wall in slow motion, the brothers training in a gym, a double decker bus driving down a dirty and abandoned street and a group of young males and a dog walking down a street. The dress codes of the characters are all quite similar too, wearing tracksuits, caps, hoods and casual labelled clothing which is the dress codes of youths and gang members - 'gangsters' and 'chavs' - in British society. This group of males are also different races, two being black, one Asian and two being white, which highlights the racially diverse culture. A high pitched sound is rising and then it stops with the sound of a drum as the beginning of the soundtrack of the trailer kicks in. This sound of the drum is matched to a shot of a group of youth's blacked out silhouettes, with one of them punching another in the face. This, from the start, sets the scene of a fast-paced and violent action film.

The next shot of the trailer sets the scene with another scratchy and blurred screen with 'London 2015' across it in bold letters. At this point the non-diegetic soundtrack kicks in which has a British hip-hop/grime beat, adding to the mis-en-scene of the trailer. This cuts to various shots of tall blocks of flats, youths vandalising and fighting in the streets and the older brother speaking to his little brother saying 'kids are killing kids everywhere now, it's out of control'. There is then a short clip of two gangs of youths blurred out as a silhouettes as a bright light shines between as then collide and start fighting. Two characters are then shown to be walking in slow motion towards the camera, which then cuts to the scratchy screen again with says 'The gangs have taken over' in bold letters. There is then a jerky shot of a huge gang of black, male youths which touches on common stereotypes and ideologies in our society today. The gang are all dressed in black, with their hoods up of with skeleton mask handkerchiefs tied over their mouths so they look intimidating and frightening. The use of these similar dress codes highlights that they are a gang, and the central male in this shot is placed there to indicate his authority, status and control of the gang. The sound of the older brother's voice is over the top of this, saying 'Stay away from the block, blood'. This is a warning and from the beginning of the trailer there are hints to the audience that gang crime and violence is the main theme of the film.

There is then a shot of the young, black male (Junior) sat next to an Indian-looking older male, clutching his hand in a bloody bandage. The older male says 'These guys are reckless, Junior', which then jump cuts to a an older, black youth saying 'What you running for? We just wanna talk to you.' Here there is a a shot of Junior being thrown to the ground by a group of the black-clad gang of youths and there is a focus on a knife being held above the young boy on the floor, then with a shot of the older black youth smiling evilly whilst looking over the younger boy, highlighting his power and authority in the gang. Then there is a shot of Junior's brother running over and punching his brother's captor and yelling for his brother to run, while shouting at the gang of youths. There is then a shot of Junior running away in slow motion which then freezes and turns sepia in colour, his face looking pained and upset, blood all over his top. The next shot is of one of the youths stabbing Junior's brother from behind, with loud slamming and shooting sound effects used to build suspense, with a shot of Junior clasping his hand, crying and banging his back against a garage door.

Then there is a close-up of Junior's angry face, with someone saying 'What you gonna do, huh?' over the top whilst an eerie and shrill sound is rising to build tension, which then cuts to quick shots of Junior and a group behind him walking in slow motion, a shot of his hand dripping with blood and a close up on his face when he says; 'I'm gonna kill them......today.'. From this point, the tempo of the trailer picks up as an epic, past-paced beat kicks in as the soundtrack, with a shot of a motorcycle riding up a set of steps and the scratchy screen cutting in with 'This March' written on it. There are then slow-motion clips of some action scenes in the film, such as a pavement-view shot of someone jumping from a high walkway to the ground, a motorcycle riding out of a building, people dancing in a club, the older brother punching a punch bag, a close up of black man yelling and spitting in a rowdy group of people and youths walking across a dark room with weapons in their hands. The slogan; 'There is one rule, kill or be killed' is slipped into this montage of epic, slow-motion action shots, to add to the suspense of the trailer as it builds and builds towards the climax.

There are then further clips of people dancing at a party, black males rapping and singing into a microphone, a male and female kissing, shots of rival gangs and then them running away. There is then a shot of a male shouting 'Junior!' and then fast paced shots of them opening the doors of a van and two youths fighting. It then introduces the characters, starting with the scratchy, blurred screen with names Adam Deacon, Ashley 'Bashy' Thomas, Kaya Scodelario and Kedar Williams-Stirling followed by a couple of clips of their characters. While the characters are being introduced, the tempo of the music is rising with a shrill sound effect and fast-paced drumming beat. The music then stops on a scene of Junior running in slow motion from a motorcycle, and a loud drum beat sound effect is used as each scene is cut quickly to another, getting quicker and quicker with the beats being used to emphasis punches and kicks, and finally to a clip of Junior running, which goes shaky and blurred and climaxes of the scratchy, jolted screen appearing with the film name and logo -'Shank'. The film slogan 'If you're not one of us, you're a victim' also appears on the blurred and wobbly screen with an ominous and lingering trill of sound dragging out, which jump cuts to a quick clip of a male throwing a punch at the camera with a loud punching sound effect, which then cuts to the scratchy screen with the film's release date and website on it.

I chose this trailer as a successful example of a good trailer as it features a lot of high-action clips which help build suspense and anticipation with out spoiling the main plot line. It gives you and idea of the plot, with the young boy seeking revenge for his brother's death, with the key them of gang violence and rivalry throughout. I think it is clever how they insert the screens which set the scene of London 2015 and give the audience bits of information, as well as slogans to go with the film. I like the use of effective music, and how the beats of the music match the cuts and actions in the film, e.g punches and kicks, especially towards the end as the pace gets faster, building suspense. I think the use of slow-motion for the fast-paced scenes is effective and the use of pathetic fallacy is also present as there is lack of colour and the weather is grey and dull, representing the mood of the characters and the bleak events of the film. The representation of common stereotypes and ideologies is also present in the trailer, for example the representation of youths and gangs, as well as representations of race. The use of dress codes and accents are also strongly important to create authenticity to the trailer and creating a realistic representation of youth culture in London. The way the characters dress and speak is vital to adding the mis-en-scene and the music chosen for the trailer also supports this 'feel' to it. I also like the way the film is promoted to their audience with the use of the young, British actors who are quite well known, as well as the hip-hop/grime/rap music and the theme of youth gangs and violence. These features would all target the teenage/young adult audience intended for the film.