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2. Research Task Fairy tales For my research, I decided to focus mainly on which fairy tales my group and I could either adapt to form a new version, or which ones we could just modify slightly to make the story a little darker/ more sinister. We made a list of about 10 fairy tales that we were considering, and then spoke about it together and decided which ones were maybe a little more impractical and which ones we could make really special. As our chosen genre is thriller, my group decided to analyse 3 different trailers that relate to our chosen fairy tale. These were: Snow White and The Huntsman - An example of a classic fairy tale adapted to fit modern times and conventions Alice and Wonderland - A film that keeps the fantasy/magical elements of the original story Taken - Classic thriller Something all these trailers had in common was their use of slow motion and fast paced scenes; everything has to be in moderation. Most of them had quite a slow start, and then up to 20 seconds of fast paced movement, then slowed down for the end of the trailer. This turns out to be extremely effective as the slow elements make you want to keep watching to see what happens next and the fast paced element keeps you on your toes until the end. I think this is some very important information to take forward for when we start shooting our trailer.Other creative elements included the trailers use of music, camera angles, cuts and narration. These different factors made the trailer definitely worth watching. 3. Snow White and the Huntsman Trailer AnalysisVisuals Good amount of darkness/bright colours diversity incolour scheme Transitions between regular pace and slow motion; addsanother dimension to the trailer Having a straight through cut to some scenes and a fadein/out for others makes the trailer a lot more dynamic Text dark background and large letters; very punchy andis only on the screen for a short amount of time (2 secondsmax.) 8 seconds of lots of action, followed by calmmoments/moments of dialogue Powerful cinematography Red flags flowing in thebreeze/the queens face after a kill Short, one second clips make you want to see more Camera angles birds eye view, close-up, extreme closeup, mid-shotAudio Sound effects help convey the right mood plenty of non diegetic sound that outweighs the diegetic sound. This intrigues you whereas too much dialogue bores you. Voice over very low male voice, makes the audience wonder, who is he? Exaggerated sounds breathing, a knife being pulled out of a sheath etc. make the overall effect more dramatic Lots of music throughout, although moments of silence is very effective as well. 4. Alice in Wonderland Trailer Analysis Visuals Quite muted colours in the beginning whites, pale blues and pinks, creams. Shows how dreary Alices world is before she falls down the rabbit hole When Alice is falling down the rabbit hole, there is a 3D element, makes the audience feel as if they are falling down with her involves the audience The screen abruptly goes dark shocks the audience Imagery Longshot of the castle bathed in moonlight from a distance Fade in/out of shots is more effective that straight cuts (in this example) Camera angles Close up, long shot, mid-shot, over the shoulder Only one or two action scenes the others are more dream- like 18 seconds of fast paced imagery and only 2 instances of speech Text Ornate, gold on a background of distressed red and keyholes At the end the text In Cinemas 2010, we see the signature Cheshire Cat Audio Exaggerated sounds a door creaking open, footsteps etc. As soon as Alice opens the door to wonderland, a kind of victory music begins to play hints at the audience that this is going to be a positive experience for Alice 5. Taken Trailer AnalysisVisuals Lots of fading transitions Slow motion Flashing 20th century fox logo Instances of split screen editing shows us both sides ofthe story White flash transition Series of flashing images Fast paced Camera angles mostly medium shots but some longshots and close upsAudio Soft Celtic music eases us into the trailer then stopsabruptly Soft piano music with voice over very effective softmusic contrasts with deep voiceover Frantic breathing in background when actors names arecoming up makes the audience feel scared/wary A kind of rattling sound sort of confuses the audience asto what is going on 6. How do these trailers relate to my media product?Analysing these trailers has helped a lot in howwe are going about structuring our own trailer.We can take on different elements of each, forexample: Sound effects from Taken; the heavy breathing and music choices Camera angles from Snow White and the Huntsman; Wide variety of shots and camera effects like over the shoulder, close up and wide shot, as well as slow motion And colour scheme ideas from Alice in Wonderland; the beauty of this trailer is that they represent so much just by using the right colours; having a very muted colour scheme for Alices world and then rich and vivid colours for when she is in Wonderland.We can use these ideas to make our trailerlook stronger and better overall. 7. Do our chosen trailers connect in any way? The trailers I chose to analyse didnt all connect to eachother, however, I did see some similarities between one or two of them. For example, Snow White and the Huntsman shared some similarities with Taken, them both being thriller type films. The use of slow motion and sound effects were really effective in these two trailers; they really showed a tone to the whole trailer and kind of force the audience to feel a certain way. With Taken, it is the extreme of fear for your life, and with Snow White and the Huntsman, it is fear for someone elses. The use of heavy breathing in Taken at the end of the trailer is extremely effective and, as stated before, makes the audience kind of wary and paranoid, the same way silence helped in the same way in Snow White and the Huntsman. Snow White and the Huntsman and Alice in Wonderland also shared some similarities in the means that they are both popular fairy tales, but the difference is that Alice in Wonderland mostly sticks to the original conventions of the story and Snow White and the Huntsman makes the story a lot darker and more in the thriller genre. In terms of our trailer, we hope to go down more of a Snow White and the Huntsman route, making Hansel and Gretel a lot darker and more sinister. 8. How will your media product stand against othersout at the moment?In relation to other films that are out there at themoment, especially childrens films, I think that ourproduct is quite unique in the sense that ours has arelation to an old childhood story that parents mightremember from when they were younger. I think thatthis gives our product the edge on others as people canproperly relate to the context of the film, rather than itjust being another kids film that isnt relatable atall, other than the fact that its funny.Other films that have come out in the past that havecontextual significance with their audiences would bethe Dr Seuss films such as The Lorax, Horton Hears aWho and The Cat in the Hat. I personally have a soft spotfor these films and any Dr Seuss related media because Ican remember reading and enjoying the books at home.I feel that our take on Hansel and Gretel with have thistype of positive effect on audiences, and perhapsencourage them to see the story in a new light.