If I stay comes out in summer 2014 and is an adaption of a book. It starts with an establishing shot of a theatre which presents our main character to us on centre stage. We then hear the cello music she's playing which creates a sound bridge for roughly half the trailer. The equilibrium is set by showing us the romance between the main character and Adam, at this stage it sticks to romance conventions with the narrative of the Chloe Grace Moretz's character explaining her feelings for him alongside a montage of romantic moments. As the cello music gets quicker so does the pacing and the line "Why do I get this feeling I'm about to mess up my entire life?" acts as foreshadowing, these combined elements ramp up the tension. The music shifts again as the characters kiss, marking the moment as is common in the romance genre. The music builds to crescendo and then we see her and her family in the car about to collide with another one on a snowy road for a brief moment before the screen goes black and the music suddenly cuts out and switches to a much more slow paced, somber tune. we establish she is having an outer body experience while in a coma and the following shot of her in the hospital explains the key point of the film, that whether or not she wakes up is her choice. After this the simple white text on a black background tells us it's based on a novel, her situation is further complicated when we find out both her parents died and her conflict about what to choose becomes more clear. Following this we see many flashbacks sandwiched between statements beginning with "If". In conjunction with the music there are several quick flashes of shots leading up to Chloe Grace Moretz's name and a shot of her walking down a corridor with her back to us towards a window, presumably symbolically. After this we have a final shot of Adam begging her to stay followed by the title of the film which is in a much softer title than the previous title cards, showing the delicate nature of the film's content, and a coming soon card.
The female protagonist and romance element will greatly appeal to female viewers and the perspective of a teenager will apply to younger viewers, however the strong family theme showed with the various flashbacks with her parents will appeal to almost anybody but especially those with children themselves.
That the trailer suddenly shifts in tone halfway through is effective as it makes it stand out and anybody who would have tuned out watching it in the cinema because of the romance genre will have been prompted to take notice of it. The change in music also helps with this as it breaks it up and keeps the audience's attention.
The trailer makes a point of making Chloe Grace Moretz's name very clear as she is a well known actress with a wide fan base, which can act as a pulling point for the film. Also there are no title cards in the first half of the trailer allowing the audience to relax into the trailer and come to grips with the relationships they're seeing, this makes the change far more poignant than it would otherwise be.
Quentin Tarantino
Films:
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol 1&2, Death Proof, Inglorious Basterds, Django UnchainedAbout:
Quentin Taratino is one of my favourite directors and for our film we have take influence from his work. His films tend to include the key elements of nonlinear storylines, satirical subject matter, and an aestheticization of violence that often results in the exhibition of neo-noir characteristics.JJ Abrams
Films:
Taking Care Of Business, Regarding Henry, Forever Young, Six Degrees Of Separation, The Pallbearer, Gone Fishin', Armageddon, The Suburbans, Joy Ride, Mission Impossible III, Cloverfield, Star Trek, Morning Glory, Super 8, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Star Trek Into Darkness.
About:
He is not just a director but also a screenwriter, actor and producer who also has a broad influence on TV. He tends to specialise in the Sci-Fi genre which although it hasn't directly influenced our project is a genre we both like.Diablo Cody
Films:
Juno, Jennifer's Body, Burlesque, Young Adult, The Magic Bracelet, Evil Dead, Paradise.
About:
Diablo Cody is one of the few female directors to have commercial success and therefore is a inspiration for myself. Her stylised screenwriting technique in Juno is one that is love.Guillermo Del Toro
Films (Directing Only):
Cronos, Mimic, Blade II, The Hellboy Franchise, Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak.About:
Guillermo Del Toro has done a lot of work as a screen writer including working on the Hobbit films. His other films, such as Pacific Rim look heavily at human relationships.Joss Whedon
Films:
Although he has only directed Serenity, The Avengers, Much Ado About Nothing and the upcoming Avengers: Age Of Ultron he has done screen writing for a vast amount amount of films, specifically superhero ones like the Thor Franchise, Captain America The Winter Soldier and X Men. He also Wrote for Cabin In The Woods and Toy Story.
About:
As well as films Whedon has a vast number of popular TV series including Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Marvel's Agents Of SHEILD. He uses online media to his advantage and many of his works have reached cult status.Christopher Nolan
Films:
Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Man Of Steel and the upcoming Transcendence.
About:
Christopher Nolan is credited with having created several of the most successful films of the century so far. He has a unique style that crosses art house and blockbuster through creating a challenging narrative for the audience, most notably in Inception. He inspires me in the way he explores concepts such a human nature, personal identity time and memory. He also often uses a non-linear storyline.Peter Jackson
Films:
The Valley, Bad Taste, Meet The Feebles, Braindead, Heavenly Creatures, Forgotten Silvers,The Frighteners, The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, King Kong, Crossing The Line, The Lovely Bones and The Hobbit Trilogy.
About:
He is known for his attention to detail and was famously very much a perfectionist when shooting Lord Of The Rings. He will shoot each shot loads of times from many different angles to the extent that he will spend days on one shot, his trademark is having lots of close ups of character's faces. His films tend to have a general playfulness and during the shooting of LOTR he wore shorts and no shoes most of the time. He also makes lots of cameo appearances in his own films.
180 degree rule -
In order to avoid the transition looking like a jump cut you should always change the angle by at least 30 degrees. If you don't it will look messy and disgruntle the audience.
Match Cutting -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1loA9p5GfM
When tha camera shot cuts between two people, usually in a conversation, otherwise known as shot reverse shot.
