Devising Teaser Trailer Idea

The first thing in which we did as a group was to discuss which genre we could like to produce a trailer for. It was agreed upon by all that our chosen genre would be horror. The reason for this being that all members had seen a number of horror movies. Resulting in us as a group being able, to establish the codes and conventions in order to create a successful trailer. Furthermore it was felt that this was the genre in which we had most experience with and that had strong codes and conventions. Easily recognised and recreated in our own production.
As part of our summer work we were required to develop initial ideas for a teaser trailer. As a group we decide to use some of these initial ideas from group members where deemed appropriate. As well as incorporating our new idea for the teaser trailer.
From one group member it was decided that our trailer storyline would be very similar. Taking from their work the synopsis and location for the trailer. From my own we decide to take the idea that the antagonists may or may not be real. This stemmed from the mental health issue included within my initial idea. Something else in which we acquired was adopted from the other group member was the lack of diagetic dialogue from the characters, replacing it with music.
Subsequently we developed a story board which was primarily the responsibility of me as I was appointed the job role of play write. When creating the story board it was important for me to take into consideration our influence trailers in which other group members were researching and analysing.
Moreover I feel it was imperative to consult on a regular basis with my group members as they in some cases had picked up on certain codes and conventions in which I hadn’t. Effectively I feel this has improved our production story board a great deal. Additionally each member of the group is now pleased with the completed story board. The benefits of story boards are that you are able to plan the camera shots, camera movements and duration. That enables the group to get a detailed picture of what the final product should look like.
One thing in which posed a challenge to the group was the fact that it was not necessary to make a whole film and thus it does not need cohesion in order to make complete sense. As you would not expect a professional trailer to give away the entire film. However this was over come by including short scenes of the action taking place and the use of jump cuts.
After developing the story board I developed a voice over story board which matched certain scenes to the voiceover. This in the long run should help us place the correct voice over to the correct scenes. Which in turn will cut the time it takes to produce as it has already been organised. The voice over itself again takes influence from other trailers in which we researched. It was noted that firstly the majority of horror teaser trailers do contain a voice over. In addition such catch phrases as ‘coming soon to a cinema near you’ were also featured in horror teaser trailers so essentially we included it within our own trailer. This within its self can be counted a convention of horror teaser trailers.
After creating the story board I developed a script from it, fitting in appropriate dialogue to the scenes which required it. As mentioned above there was very little dialogue. As a group we decided to keep the dialogue to a minimum. As this would make the use of non diagetic music more effective. Again I constantly consulted with my group members in order to maintain their influences throughout the pre production tasks.