Study Trailers: District 9

District 9 trailer:


Studying the trailer without sound:
Trailer starts off with a quick flash of QED and Tristar logos. We are then shown a video which seems to be shakey showing that they are in a car, the camera is then pointed at a spaceship and fades to black. 'They Came here 28 years ago' comes out of the black, in white text and quickly cuts off again to the next scene. The next shot is of a soldier of which we presume to be in a helicopter. 'Coexistance has never been easy', another flash of text that zooms closer to the audience,

the trailer so far seems to be easy to understand even without the sound with pretty strong text to engage the audience in. Two shots which seem like a news report with a rolling banner at the bottom. Woman is quickly shown, seems to be asked a question in which she is replying. Next is a montage of banners and posters about the aliens being segregated and that places are only for humans. 'Why won't we let them leave'. Quick flash, we see an alien, quick cut, into a zoom. Subtitle 'We just want to go home'.

Static/wavey lines, cuts out alien and introduces Peter jackson presents a film by Niell Blomkamp. A birds eye view, seems to be a slum, then cuts into a news report again. Quick montage of the place around, soldiers in helicopters with guns and barbed wire, seems just like it's a concentration camp. See a man possibly the main character? waiting to be confirmed. Helicopters. Security camera, an interesting view as apposed just a mid shot, black and white colour. Shows images that seem like a lab. Main Character (?) finds something interesting. Multiple close ups on object, probably of importance. Character gets sprayed with something, jump cut, image of the guy coughing/choking? Usual montages of the trailer, helicopters. Guns, faster paced video now. Lots going on, violence. Lots of cuts and flashing. Explosions. Giant Sunset, possibly means it's in the Africa (Lion King Sunset).

Lots of drama. Robots. Alien has been captured. Shady Silouettes in front of a window. Spaceship in the air. District 9- Title Screen. Date. Website- advertisement to find out more. Credits.

Another Person's Opinion!

The Logo!

I decided to call my production team Tick Tock Productions, after the characters in my film Tick and Tock. This is because my production label would be much more likely to be remembered then if I named it something that isn't related to any of my work. People would stop and think who made that film with those characters Tick and Tock and instantly you would remember it was Tick Tock Productions!

Everyone remembers a logo by it's image, Dreamworks and the fisherman, Walt Disney and the cinderella castle, 20th century fox with it's search lights and so forth!

My logo is simply some text, but with a ticking clock to be in the 'O' of Tock, one of the reasons why I thought of this was because when I come round to making my trailer, the establishing shot is a ticking clock, therefore I could combine the establishing shot and the logo to form a clean cut sequence.

What I did to make the logo:
First I used word to make the text using WordArt, I made Tick smaller than Tock so I could fit Tick inbetween the T and the K of Tock, then I also made the Productions at an angle so it looks like a shadow, to add to the effect, I added a lightish grey outline to 'Productions' which gave it a bit more of a glowy effect.

Second I took the clock off my desktop of the computer which is a gadget. I decided to use this clock instead of taking a picture of clocks I already had as this was the style of clock I was looking for that has a black rim. I then print screened and cut out the clock using Gimp then added it to my logo.

Thirdly I again print screened my logo (which I was currently making on Word before) onto Gimp. I then, using a paintbrush tool, blacked in the top and the bottom of the image so it looked like a movie screen. Once I had done that, I used the gradient tool using the Hard light setting, which gave the illusion of light shining on one corner.

Lastly I used Picnik.com, just to smooth out the edges and also the contrast levels slightly.

This is what I had planned the logo to look like:

And this is the result:

I like to think that I've accomplished what I set out to do.

Questionnaire

I was originally going to film the responses to the questionnaire, however, I've decided to hand out questionnaires on paper instead as I have realised more people will do them, therefore getting more data.

1. Are you Male or Female?

2. How old are you:

3. Do you watch Sci-fi films? YES NO

4. If yes to 2, what is your favourite sci-fi film?

5. If no to 2, what is your favourite genre?

6. How often do you go to the cinema a month? Once a moth 2-3 times 4+

7. If I said Sci-Fi, what word comes into your head first?

Audience, Trailer and Film Research Plan!

My plan is to get some friends to watch some trailers and films with me and record their opinions of the film. This is because my friends are within the target audience for my trailer, which I'm going to make 12A, therefore my target audience will be 12+. I will also get people like my cousins, parents and other relatives, this will mean I have a larger range of audience profiles.

The Plan

I will get my friends to first watch the trailer of the film we are going to watch afterwards and films their reactions to the trailer and see what they think about it (what is good, what is bad and what they should of included to improve it), then we'll watch the film of the trailer, and I will record them to see what they thought of it, and ask them questions such as was the trailer a good representation of the film, or whether the film was better than they expected etc.

Films/trailers to be watched and analysed- (some films cannot be watched as they are still in the cinema, so trailers will be analysed only) also these are all of a Sci-Fi genre.

*Super 8 (trailer only)
*X-Men: First Class (Film and Trailer)

*X-Men (trailer only)

*X-Men 2 (trailer only)

*X-Men: The Last Stand (trailer only)

*Attack the Block (trailer, possibly film)

*Cowboys & Aliens (trailer only)
*Source Code (film and trailer)
*Inception (film and trailer)

*The Adjustment Bureau (trailer only)

*TRON: Legacy (film and trailer)
*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (film and trailer)
*V for Vendetta (film and trailer)

*District 9 (film and trailer)

There is a possibility I might not be able to analyse all of these films, or a possibility I might analyse them all and more! Since the more films/trailers studied the better my trailer will turn out as I will have more ideas and inspiration.

My Favourite Sci-Fi Movies

I'm sure I have many favourites of the Sci-Fi genre but two that really 'spring' to mind is District 9 and Source Code.

District 9

Who Directed It?
Neill Blomkamp. He is best known for his visual effects that he does for the TV series made in 1997, Stargate SG-1, in which he was a 3D animator. He's only recently come into the 'big film' business with District 9 which he both directed and co-wrote with Terri Tatchell.

When was it released?
2009

Does it have any well known stars in it? If so, Who?
No not really, probably due to the fact that the Director isn't famous when making this film therefore not being able or possibly wanting to get any famous people for this film. However the main character played by Sharlto Copley, has in more recent years played Murdock in the film 'The A-Team'.

Are there any Sci-fi conventions in this film? And if so what?
There isn't too many conventions of a Sci-fi film in this movie, except the fact that there are aliens. But instead of the Aliens invading the city (Johannesburg) like most sci-fi films eg. Independence Day,War of the Worlds, Battle: Los Angeles and many more, these aliens (called 'Prawns') are treated like dogs with the main issue of the film is evacuating them from their housing to move into what essentially were concentration camps.

Source Code

Who Directed It?
Duncan Jones, much like the director of District 9, he also isn't too well known in the film business, however, he has directed and written the story for another very successful Sci-Fi movie called 'Moon'.

When was it released?
2011

Does it have any well known stars in it? If so, Who?
Yes! There are a range of actors in this film which are relatively famous, Jake Gyllenhaal probably being the most famous, known for his films ' Donnie Darko', 'Brokeback Mountain', 'Zodiac','The Day After Tomorrow' and many more. Jake Gyllenhaal has been in a wide range of genres from Action to Romance, however Sci-fi seems to be a recurring genre he seems to play his roles in. Michelle Monaghan who appears often in this film, has featured in films such as 'Gone Baby Gone' and 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' which are both Crime films, so Source Code is slightly different to her usual way of acting. Vera Farmiga appears regularly in Source Code and has been in other such films as 'Orphan' and 'The Departed'. Jeffrey Wright has been in a lot of 'gangster' and crime films such as the James Bond films 'Casino Royale' and 'Quantam of Solace'. Michael Arden plays a lunatic in Source Code which is different to his usual roles in RomComs such as 'Bride Wars'. So all in all, Yes there are a lot of famous people in this film which is unusual as the director isn't particularly famous.

Are there any Sci-fi conventions in this film? And if so what?
There aren't too many Sci-fi conventions in this film as it's aiming to be more of an Action film, however, the whole machine 'Source Code' is probably the most Sci-fi bit about the film as it is miraculous to keep someone's body alive and being able to go into the past to work out a mystery of the bomber of the train, this is something only truely could have been made from Science.

Character Design #2- Tick

Another rough outline of what my character Tick will look like:

Explaining the Character
Tick is the leader out of Tick and Tock, he gives out the orders and always has the final say in everything. Tick is a very lateral thinker and is considered quite a villian in the film as he's always one step ahead of the protagonists. Tick is wearing a full suit, along with his mask, which in comparison to Tock's mask, is a bit more sinister as it does not have any expression at all, as apposed to Tock's smug smile. Both Tick and Tock are 'mad scientists' simply put, and they have a personality to match, however Tick is considered more eerie than Tock as at least with Tock, he expresses some emotion, but with Tick, he's monotoned...his clothes, voice and mask all match, therefore you are never really sure why he's doing these experiments. Whether it's out of pure madness or if there's a reason behind it...

The Mask
Here's the mask for Tick (I have yet to add the elastic so that's why I'm having to hold it)