Ideas/Planning: Promotional Film Package

In order to create a promotional film package, I had to initially think of a film idea. I had already chosen my genre prior to carrying out my research. The genre I chose was drama. So I then created a mind-map of sub-genres and themes relating to this genre and worked my way outwards towards a solid film idea.

More sub-genres of Drama:

Adaptations, Based upon True Stories Addiction and/or Alcoholism Adventure Drama Adult African-American Americana Autobiographies/Biographies Biopics (Biographical) British Empire Buddy Film "Chick" Flicks or "Guy-Cry" Films Childhood Dramas Christmas Films Coming-of-Age Costume Dramas Courtroom Dramas Crime Dramas Dance Diary Films Disease/Disability Disaster Docu-dramas Ensemble Erotic Drama Espionage Ethnic Family Saga Euro-Spy Films "Fallen" Women Fantasy Drama Feminist Film a Clef Gay and Lesbian Generation Gap Hagiographies (Religious Figures) Heavenly Drama High School Holiday Film Holocaust Hood Films Inspirational Investigative Reporting Legal/Courtroom Life Story

Literary Adaptation Love Marital Drama Medical Melodramas ("Women's Pictures," Tearjerkers, or "Weepies") Message Movie Musical Drama Newspaper Nostalgia Odd Couple Period Film Police Drama POW Drama Presidential Politics or Political Dramas Prison Drama Propaganda Prostitution Psychological Drama Race Relations, Inter-racial Themes Religious Resistance Reunion Road Movie Romantic Dramas Rural Drama Sexual/Erotic (Steamy Romantic Dramas) Shakespearean Showbiz Dramas Slice of Life Soap Opera Social Problem Film, Social Commentaries Small-town Life Sports Dramas or Biopics Supernatural drama Teen (or Youth) Films Tragedy True Crime Drama Urban Drama War-Military Dramas Women's Friendship Youth Culture

Once I had thought of my film idea, I then created a movie pitch to present to the rest of the class in Microsoft PowerPoint. I have included this below.

As my idea is based around a student attending college and most of the film is set there or includes scenes shot inside a college. This is ideal as I attend a college myself and can use the premises for my settings in order to achieve a realistic effect. This also links into the target audience which will be primarily students varying age between 15-19 which is a typical age range of students that are attending a college and upcoming colleges students, made up of high school students. This will appeal to all students of most ages as the main story line being a student who struggles with being alone whilst going through education but then experiences a positive change in his life when he makes a friend. Except there is a huge plot twist - that being that Jake's character isn't real. Instead, he is a figment of Cammeron's imagination.

Plot

I knew the basic outline of my plot, but if I was to make a whole film, I would have to know the plot in extensive detail. As I'm only making a trailer, I don't need to plot it out exactly but I need to have a good idea of how the film would play out in order to create a trailer that will showcase this film appropriately. In order to do this, I need to know the story-line and plot for my film idea better and break it own. I worked along a popular plot theory by Freytag. He saw the plot as a narrative structure in which he has segmented it into 5 stages. I looked into each part and related it to my film idea.

Equipment

In order to create a trailer, I will need to gather certain equipment. The main piece I will need is a camera to record my trailer footage. I will be using two different cameras for this in order to fit the affect I'm trying to create in certain scenes. I will use the larger camera for the main scenes in order to gain more accuracy, a clearer picture and to be more professional. There will be extra equipment used to accompany the larger camera. That will be a tripod to stable the camera and create a still shot. The smaller camera will alternate between handheld and then propped up on a surface. On top of this, I will use a third camera but this one for photos as it will be a DCLR. This will be used for the magazine and poster primarily. The three cameras are:

Panasonic HDV151

Panasonic HDC-HS80

Nikon D90

 Boom microphone

Tripod

Actors

One of the main components of a film is the actors. For a big blockbuster film, the choice of actors would be important and their star rating would contribute to this choice. However, being only a college media student, my choice of actors are limited. Although, I know the role of the characters and set out to find someone who I think will be able to portray this role well. I created a character profile for my two main characters and then set out to think and find someone who could fit my role. I needed to find two average guys who could dress casually and fit into a crowd. I was lucky enough to have a friend who not only fit this description but went a step ahead to actually being able to relate to the character in a personal sense. 



The actor I chose to play the main character finds that being lonely and isolated is something he experiences in his own life and therefore will be able to connect with the character role more than most and will produce a more realistic affect to the performance. 



It took more of a stretch to find the second actor to play the second character as I didn't know another person who fit into this role also. Instead I asked around and found a media student who had previously acted before, not only in media productions but is also a part of his previous high school's film club productions. Meaning he has some acting experience and will be more attuned to taking instructions and familiar with being directed. I have created a character profile for my two main characters which I have included below.

I also got both actors to sign an actor agreement to make it professional and official. 

Locations

Another important part to creating a my promotional film package is spotting out locations for all three pieces. Mainly for the trailer as that will include multiple locations, but it was also key to look for locations to take my photographs for my poster and magazine. 

For the magazine I had decided to go for a plain white background so I would find an area which has a white wall for the background. This is because I noticed when researching into film magazine covers, the backgrounds were mostly either edited in or a plain colour, and by choosing a white background, I can edit in a background but I also have the option to keep it plain white without having to change anything. 

For the poster I had the idea to use the swing-set in the local park.

For the trailer I had to think of different possible locations I would be shooting. As I have already decided I will be taking advantage of the fact I attend a college and can use it's facilities freely, I will be shooting multiple parts there. 

After sourcing out the places, the next thing was to decipher if permission would be needed for each location.  As all locations are within the college, permission needed will be likely. Especially for the dinner hall as there is usually other people who use it often and also staff who work there regularly either serving food or cleaning. Therefore I will ask one of the staff available for permission. To film within a classroom, I will need to first make sure there won't be a class using the room for the time slot I will be filming in there for. I will also need to ask a tutor if the room is locked for permission to enter and film within there.

Survey

As part of my research and planning for my promotional film package, I created a survey that included questions on all three pieces that I would be making. The results for each question are as shown below the following link to my survey: