Audience

AUDIENCE

Users and Gratifications Model of the Media:

- Mass media is a huge phenomenon, able to reach millions through different 'platforms'.
- Builds direct relationship with the audience - overcomes distances. Arguably 'injects' messages into their minds - 'Uses and Gratifications' model looks at effects of media from point of view of people taking it in/receiving it. In a nutshell, people are motivated by desire to fulfil certain needs by using the media.

SURVEILLANCE:
- Based round the idea that people feel better knowing what is going on around them - this could be the reason we watch the news or read newspapers - when we find out news (even bad news) we end up feeling more secure about our own lives, because 'ignorance is a source of danger' so we know what to be wary of.

USING THE MEDIA WITHIN RELATIONSHIPS:
- If one has a favourite television programme in common with someone else, it is a topic of conversation and a means to keep in touch and talk about something. For example, if two people watch 'Hollyoaks' they can relate to one another and talk about how they feel about certain issues within the programme.

DIVERSION:
- Diversion is also described as 'escapism'
- A way in which an audience member can get away from the boring reality of their own lives and be taken into another world of soap operas with happy endings and ideal relationships. People almost feel like they can be a part of this other world if they watch it and know what is going on/have an opinion on the events that occur in the programme.

The Audience:
Mass audience is always fragmented - media institutions no longer seem to be interested in keeping the audience together, but are now interested in 'triggering engagement' in people.
- Push media to pull media - the idea of instead of the audience having certain media pushed at them in the form of film posters or trailers, the audience use social medias and other means to control what they are shown and pull what they want to see towards them. This way they should value the media more as it is more personally tailored to them.
WEB 2.0 - Youtube is a good example of web 2.0. Web 2.0 is 'a new phase of the internet which allows us to create material, distribute it to one another and perhaps move closer to the democratic 'spirit' of the internet that its inventor had in mind'. Youtube is an example of a website in which people can access more or less any video they like, and encourages creatives to make films and music and share it online easily and for free.

Media audience theories:
Some case studies suggest that the media are responsible for a large range of 'social problems', however, there is lack of real evidence for the support of the idea that, for example, playing violent video games leads to violent antisocial attacks or vandalism. There are methods of 'protecting' people from having access to this content however, such as certification and censorship.
- The 'hyperdermic syringe model' views audiences as 'passive recipients of 'injected' messages'.
- 'Cultivation theory' is the idea that over a period of time of being exposed and told a certain idea through the media, we automatically tend to take that stance on an issue and adopt the opinion ourselves.
- 'Desensitisation' is the idea that the more we are exposed to seeing violence through the media, the less shocked we are to see it in real life.
- 'Copycat theory' claims that when we see actions 'modelled' on screen, some individuals may act out what they are shown. (This theory gets a lot of media attention).
Although all of these theories are valid and have had a lot of research done into them, it is widely believed that the media are not responsible for social problems within society as there is a lack of evidence.

Trailer Narratives

From researching and analysing trailers such as 'Dear John', 'Revolutionary Road', 'Blue Valentine', 'Like Crazy', and 'The Lucky One', I have realised that the general structure of typical 'Romance' trailers is in three parts:

1) An introductory section introducing the couple and what they are like (sometimes how they have met)
2) A montage of the couple being happy and falling or being in love
3) A moment where the mood of the trailer changes and something goes wrong in the relationship or outside of the relationship which affects the couple and their lives.

These trailers often end with a few final happy shots of the couple (depending on the exact genre of the film, be it romantic comedy, romance, or hard and serious romance which addresses serious issues).

The trailer for 'Like Crazy' is a particular example of this structure. It starts with idents to introduce the film and who it has been produced by (Paramount Vantage, Indian Paintbrush). This shows the audience the film has been made by prestigious and well known companies, perhaps causing the film to be seen as more of a potentially successful film in their minds with more accomplished cast members or a more well known director.
There is then a scene with dialogue between the main couple where they look happy and in love, followed by a 'Sundance film festival' logo. The use of a logo being shown once the trailer has already started could draw more attention to it. There is a montage of the couple doing activities typically done by couples such as go-karting, with a voice over of the main female character narrating her feelings. The soundtrack has also started, which is a rather sad and quiet sounding song with a female voice over a piano. The male then says 'what are we going to do after we graduate'.
This is when the trailer's mood changes from happy to sad, and the audience is shown the struggles the couple start to face in their relationship. The song continues over a montage, but the montage switches from showing the happy couple to the sad couple, with shots of both the male and the female looking thoughtful, contemplative and sad, with the voiceover from the female continued.
Finally, the trailer finishes with the actors' names and then the title in bold capitals shown. The final shot is of the couple looking happy together as they stare at one another through a glass door, which deliberately leaves the audience wondering if they will end up happily together or not.

B.M

Narrative Necessities

Both subgenres of romantic films, mainstream and arthouse, there are certain key things that appear in all trailers and will be necessary to include in the narrative of our trailer.

- the initial meeting of the couple

This is a very important of the narrative for the audience as it is when they first glimpse the relationship between the couple and so then can begin to understand the path it takes and problems it has to over come in the rest of the trailer. Although some of these trailers start before the couple has actually met, I prefer narratives where the couple is already together and then something causes them problems in their relationship, for example 'Revolutionary Road', 'The Vow' and 'Blue Valentine.'

- obvious change in mood

In the majority of the trailers I have researched, there is always a specific moment where the mood changes and the story picks up. This is usually signified by a change in music, a pause in music, an introduction of a new character or an argument between the two characters.

For example:

'Revolutionary Road' - 0.23 seconds 

This is an example of the music changing to create a different mood and so the story begins to change

'Dear John' - 1.12 minutes

Another example of the music changing to emphasise the change in relationship when John goes off to war

'Remember Me' - 1.00 minutes

This is an example of the introduction of a new character to change the relationship and mood of the main character - in this case it is the arrival of Tyler's 'other half'

'The Vow' - 0.43 - 1.05

This is an example of the pause of music along with arguments and loud noises to start and finish the music

For this change, I would like to use music to show a change in mood, preferably slower to show a more melancholic mood to reflect problems in the relationship of the couple.

- montage

This appears towards the end of every trailer before the title of the film is revealed as a dramatic finale to the narrative. 

To fit this in with our narrative, we will use this as a chance to show distance and problems within the relationship whilst displaying the main characters and the actor's playing them. Looking at the trailers the amount of shots in a montage generally varies between 15 to 20 shots so we will have to film a lot of shots that briefly reflect the character's relationship with each other for the montage.

W.H.

Possible Narratives

Since it is clear that most of the trailers for mainstream romantic films follow the same pattern, we simply have to base our trailer on others with a different twist in the story. The typical structure of the trailer is:

1. Couple meets/Couple is happy
2. Something goes wrong
3. Dramatic montage to portray their changing relationship

Since both 1. and 3. are almost always the same in all the trailers, it is aspect 2. that we need to come up with.

Examples of 2. in trailers that I have studied:

'Dear John' - John has to go to war
'The Lucky One' - Logan kept a secret from Beth
'The Vow' - Paige loses her memory
'The Notebook' - Ally is forced to move away from Noah
'One Day' - Emma and Dexter's personalities change so much that they can no longer relate to each other

'Remember Me' is slightly different in that stage 2. actually appears before stage 1. However, the audience is still led to believe through the shots of Tyler and Ally's father in the montage, that this could be the main cause of conflict in the film.

Possible ideas for Stage 2.:
- incorporating ideas from 'Dear John', 'One Day' and 'The Notebook' - one of the couple is forced to move away as a career choice/family etc. but their relationship continues through letters and spaced out meetings
- basing ideas from a Romeo & Juliet point of view, also similar to 'The Notebook' - due to a family crisis/feud, the couple is forced apart
- introducing a 3rd character of a similar age to the couple who comes between them - similar to the role of Ally's father in 'Remember Me' or Ally's mother in 'The Notebook.'


For more art house romantic film trailers I have studied, there is a less particular pattern in the trailers. Although 'Like Crazy' does reflect a similar order to mainstream trailer in that they show something going wrong, it is more similar to 'Blue Valentine' and 'Revolutionary Road' where it is clear that the films are more character driven than plot driven - both the trailers seem to only focus on the relationship rather than any external problems that effect it.

This type of trailer is more difficult to approach as a non-professional production as I think it may look like we have simply jumbled up some shots of a couple without much of a storyline. However, we will still incorporate lots of ideas from these trailers as I like the style and mood they create. I would like to recreate something as personal as the song in 'Blue Valentine' or the poem in 'Like Crazy' as I think it really helps the audience identify the extent of the couple's relationship. I also much prefer the montage in 'Revolutionary Road' to other trailers as I think it is much more dramatic and emotional, with a lot more energy.

W.H.

Actors

Actors:

We would like two main characters, a female and a male, in a romantic relationship together.

Man - We would like a male main part, Isaac to be rather stereotypical. We want him to be good looking but not in a 'typically attractive' way. Some examples of male main characters we could base our main character on are:

Ryan Gosling - Noah in 'The Notebook'

Anton Yelchin - Jacob in 'Like Crazy'

Robert Pattinson - Tyler in 'Remember Me'

Our friend Harrison is a potential candidate to play Isaac. He has the right sort of look and is good looking but looks as if he is scraggly and grungy. Harrison is 18 and goes to school in London, so filming times could work with our out of school hours.

George is our other potential Isaac, he is 20 and lives in Suffolk, but goes to university in Brighton which is the area we will probably be doing most of our filming in. He looks older than Harrison, so would probably be a better fit for playing Isaac. He also shares a similarly 'grungy' and scatty look to Harrison, and he would wear his own clothes rather than having a costume as it is already what we want our male character to be wearing.

Mark is our final consideration to play Isaac. He is 20 years old and goes to university in London. He has the right sort of look too although he is more groomed than Harrison and George.

Woman - We want the female character, Grace, to be similar to the male character in the way that she should be beautiful but she should not try too hard with make up or clothes to make herself look good, so she has natural beauty and a slightly grungy feel about her. For example:

Emilie De Ravin - Ally in 'Remember Me'

Kristen Stewart - Bella in 'Twilight'

Michelle Williams - Cindy in 'Blue Valentine'

Our first potential girl to play Grace is Holly. She is 21 and lives in Clapham, but goes to university in Brighton. She has a slightly grungy look and style, which could work with playing Cindy. She is also blonde which is similar to Michelle Williams and Emilie De Ravin. However, her blonde hair could perhaps be seen as too generic and 'girl next door'. 

Our next potential Grace is Thea. She is also 21 and lives in Clapham but goes to university in Brighton. Thea would be suitable to use as if we used George to play Isaac she is in a relationship with  George, so their acting would probably look more natural and realistic. She has ginger hair which would also work well as it is different and unusual.

Finally, we may potentially use Ally Whitaker for our female role as she lives locally to us and goes to the same school as us so would be available a lot of the time. Also she has individual hair and is attractive.

We finally chose to use George and Thea, as they are in a real relationship so their acting would look normal and natural. We plan to go down to Brighton for a week to film them on the beach and in a flat or apartment.

B.M

NARRATIVE ideas

Narrative:

-       Depression?

-       Pregnancy?

-       Job stress – revolutionary road – depression/problems between relationship

-       Been together so long that love has died?

-       University

-       Want to get married but haven’t been with anyone else – don’t know if it’s the right decision

-       Job (or something else) stress builds up – Male has had too much, has to get away and suddenly drives away from it all – disappears

-       Three years later he is married with baby to someone else,

-       COUPLE together, she gets depression, his love for her and need to save her and look after her builds up and gets too much – he runs away abandoning her and 3 years later she sees him again and he is engaged to someone else. They fall back into each others lives – will they/wont they get back together?

Trailer Narrative Notes

Trailer Narrative Notes

Mainstream Trailers - These trailers generally consist of 3 act narrative to outline the basic story of the whole film for the audience. Examples of the 3 acts in trailers I've studied:

(a) 'The Lucky One'
1. Sets out the main character's background and why he is set on the track of the main narrative. In this trailer, it begins with Logan explaining why he has to go and find Beth - 'I promised myself that if I ever got out I would find that girl and thank her for saving my life.' This act continues with them meeting and the early stages of their relationship.
2. The 2nd act begins when the music first changes and Logan starts the job at the farm - the cheery music suggests things are going well and reflects they're relationship growing.
3. The final act merges with the 2nd act as it leads on from the same song but things progressively get more stressful and conditions worsen - this is shown by lots of different clips of arguments and tears etc. to suggest that the relationship has growing problems. However, this ends on a lighter note to reassure the audience that the whole film is not singularly about problems in the relationship.

(b) 'Dear John' - this runs in a very similar fashion as 'The Lucky One' but just with slightly different editions to the story
1. The first act introduces the two main characters as they first meet and they begin to get to know each other and they are very happy together.
2. The second act becomes more dramatic and melancholic as John chooses to extend his time with the army - however there is still an air of hopefulness and happiness about them due to the narrator explaining that they are working hard to keep the relationship going strong.
3. This act mainly consists of an emotional montage showing the couple facing their individual problems - however like 'The Lucky One' it ends on a more positive note through the narrator.

(c) 'The Notebook'
1. This introduces the two characters and their growing relationship with each other
2. The second act begins to show the problems between Noah and Ally as Ally gets sent away. However, it continues to stay cheerful as she meets another person who she falls in love with but it is clear that Noah also continues to stay in her life.
3. Instead of getting more sad like both 'The Lucky One' and 'Dear John', it simply gets more dramatic with a montage of emotional scenes with the narrator becoming more desperate to discover about the story of Noah and Ally and this also urges the audience to find interest in the story as well. However, it follows the convention of ending on the same positive note through the narrator.

1. This is slightly different to the other trailers as it doesn't show the beginning of the couple's relationship but simply fires the audience into their relationship as it is - perfectly happy.
2. The 2nd act turns everything immediately bad rather than showing a slow descent of problems like the previous trailers
3. This act is more similar to other trailers' 2nd act as it is more positive whilst still being aware of the problems within the narrative and the problems the couple has to overcome. This trailer is only slightly different as it follows the exact same type of plot but just slightly flips the order of it.

W.H.

Trailer Structure Analysis: BLUE VALENTINE

TRAILER STRUCTURE ANALYSIS:

‘Blue Valentine’

Opening picture:

This is followed by idents with a SOUNDBRIDGE over the top of a ukulele and the main male character’s voice.

The screen then fades into the opening shot, which is of the two main characters. This fade could be useful to us, as it creates a romantic and soft, serious feel. The camera is hand-held which creates an almost home made feel. The characters are then introduced by a shot of them dancing and singing, which shows the audience they are a loveable couple, immediately telling them the film is based around them.

This is followed by a montage of the couple falling and being in love, with a backing track of Gosling singing and playing the ukulele. The trailer then shows the couple going through a downhill stage with clear bumps in their relationship.

The trailer shows shots of the main female character crying, and the couple shouting at each other to illustrate the hard times the couple are facing.

Finally, the trailer ends with the title shown on a black background so it looks bold and sticks in the audience’s head, with a following final shot of the couple at their happiest.

The trailer as a whole does not give too much away, whilst giving a perfect taster of what the film is going to be like and what the audience should expect. This is what we will aim our trailer to be similar to.