PLANNING: OUR TREATMENT

Title Names

-The Countdown
-Imminent Threat
-The Launch
-Terror
-Blast Zone
-Genocide
-Shockwave
-Nuclear Winter

Production Names

-Blast Zone Productions

-Winter Productions

-Impact Productions

-Crater Productions 

-Shockwave Productions 

-Launch Productions

Treatment

The year is 2027 and Daniel, Timothy and Bartholomew are foster children living within the centre of London. In recent years there has been a lot of tension between the US and its allies between North Korea. The UK defence system has detected North Korean missiles. It has been broadcast around the UK that there is only a certain amount of time before one hits London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff. The country has descended into chaos; there is economic ruin. The foster children are able to get into their bunker in time only a few minutes before the missiles arrive in the specific locations. The bomb hits; two weeks later one of the boys opens the door to the bunker… the trailer ends on a cliff hanger.

Topline 

Three foster children face death as they race against time to make it to their bunker to survive the nuclear missiles only to face complications throughout their journey.

Big Question 

Will they make it in time? What goes wrong? Will they all make it to the bunker? How many other people will survive the missiles?

Research

As part of my research into how to devise a treatment I watched a FutureLearn Video by Frank Ash. In this video Frank Ash talks about how to make your film interest the audience but also to make your film relevant to current social trends. This made us consider the Disaster genre and mix it with the very real North Korean threat that the world faces. I also visited Movie Outline in which it mentions similar methods. Movie Outline think that the most important element of a film is to make it topical but also ensure that it fits under the genre that is most popular at the moment.

RESEARCH: TRAILER ANALYSIS RED DAWN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGoe7BdGdlg

Feature	Comments
Genre	War/ Disaster
Narrative	A city in Washington state is faced with the frontline of a North Korean paratrooper invasion following a EMP attack. A group survivors have to fight the foreign invaders, they call themselves the Wolverines and they are the only ones that can save their city.
Unique Selling Point	The first mass media film that involved a North Korean force invading the USA. This film was soon followed up by similar films, Olympus has Fallen and Whitehouse Down.
Target Audience	15-25 male
Music	Rock music is played in the background when the Wolverines start to fight the North Korean invaders, this music is used to be a metaphor for teenage rebellion.
Shot Types/ Angles	Low angle shot, tracking shot, shot reverse shot.
Pace	The pace is slow at the start of the trailer. The pace begins to quicken when the fight for Washington begins.
Dialogue	Very little dialogue is used and the majority of the plot is revealed through visuals and intertitles.
Voiceover	There are only a couple of occasions where voiceovers are used, voiceovers are used as sound bridges.
Special Effects	The planes that the paratroopers use are computer generated. All other effects in the trailer are practical effects.
Credits and Intertitles	Actors names, eg. Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck. The majority of the intertitles are used to tell the plot of the story and to build up tension.

RESEARCH: TRAILER ANALYSIS DUNKIRK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-eMt3SrfFU

Feature	Comments
Genre	War/ Disaster
Narrative	The movie tells the story of the military disaster that was Dunkirk, but the drive and determination of British sailors to rescue their soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. With the axis forces pushing closer and closer and the Luftwaffe picking off the allied forces on the beaches. It is a race against time to get the 400,000 British soldiers off of the beaches of Dunkirk.
Unique Selling Point	One unique selling point of Dunkirk is that it is an entirely British cast, commemorating the amazing British victory.
Target Audience	15 onwards
Music	The ticking of a clock further reinforces the idea that they are in a race against time. There is also a very prominent heartbeat that is played throughout the trailer, it gets faster and faster as the trailer progresses.
Shot Types/ Angles	Tracking shots, close ups, low angle shot, hand held camera work, tilt pan.
Pace	Fast paced editing ups the tempo, this links to the ever growing danger that the British troops face at every growing second.
Dialogue	There is very little dialogue due to the essence of the trailer being visual, this also allows emphasis on the heartbeat, ticking of a clock and diegetic sounds for example planes, explosions and the sound of waves.
Voiceover	The only voiceover that is present in the trailer is the protagonist, Fionn Whitehead, recalling Winston Churchills ‘We shall never surrender speech’. Fionn quotes,” We shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall never surrender, we shall never surrender.” It is unclear from the trailer whether Fionn’s character believes in these words, but there is a clear sense of demoralisation in his voice.
Special Effects	Christopher Nolan endeavoured to use none if any VFX in the film. There are only a few occasions in which VFX is used. The crew used real battleships, real spitfires and real Messerschmitt’s.
Credits and Intertitles	Actors names, eg. Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Kenneth Brenner, Tom Hardy. Intertitles are used to emphasise the oncoming threat that is approaching the stranded British soldiers.

RESEARCH: MOTHER! TRAILER ANALYSIS

MOTHER! TRAILER

Feature	Comments
Genre	Horror/ Thriller
Narrative	Jennifer Lawrence, the protagonist, is living with her husband when a string of strangers begin to arrive and create mystery and threat.
Unique Selling Point	Robbie Collin from The Sunday Telegraph 10/09/17 offered his views on 'Mother!' in ‘Why Hollywood needs mavericks not franchises’. Collins feels that 'Mother!' offers a fresh approach, although not all of the Venice Film Festival agree. The film appeared to be a grotesque depiction of a planet in crisis. The soundtrack is very different and is from and the Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson. The director of the film Aronofsky said that the 'best thing about this film will be the surprise of it'. Linking to the lack of knowledge the audience has of the film, meaning that the one of the USP's of the film is the mystery of it. Javier Bardem has also taken the vow of silence and has refused to provide any additional information.
Target Audience	15-30
Music	Sharp percussion sounds accompanied by sharp notes from a violin
Shot Types/ Angles	Close-ups, High angle shot, low angle shot, tracking shot, handheld camera shots, a significant shot reverse shot is used to show Jennifer Lawrence looking at a broken photo on the floor- then the camera switches to her face only for the audience to see a mysterious figure to be standing behind her.
Pace	Fast paced editing ups the tempo of the trailer directly linking to the adrenaline rush that the protagonist feeling in the trailer.
Dialogue	There is very little dialogue in the trailer due to it being not fast paced enough, it would not link to the fast paced nature that the soundtrack portrays
Voiceover	Jennifer Lawrence provides a voiceover of the events, introducing the plot in the first 15 seconds of the trailer. As a result of the voiceover the audience relates to Jennifer Lawrence and for the duration of the trailer the audience feel sympathetic towards her.
Special Effects	When the house went black and had a charcoal look to it, symbolising death and destruction
Credits and Intertitles	Actors names, eg. Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer. Production companies as well as the director was also mentioned. The intertitles are cut to the beat to make the trailer flow faster and to further link to the adrenaline rush of the trailer.

WHEN ARE TRAILERS SHOWN?

Trailers produced the same time that the film is being edited. The timing of the trailers is important because if it is not released early enough then the film would not be able to gain enough hype but on the other hand if it is released too early then potential customers may forget about the film.

 SNATCHED

This trailer was released in summer due to the vast amount of overseas holidays that occur. Therefore the concept of the film would appear very attractive to that particular market of customers. However 'Snatched' has a unique twist as it is a trip to Ecuador with a mother and daughter. In the modern world this is very strange as adult mothers and daughters very rarely go on holiday together, especially a romantic retreat to South America. Throughout this trip the mother and daughter are robbed, kidnapped and insulted.

The humour of this film is vastly important mainly due to the fact that the daughter did not plan the trip with the intention of taking her mother. The daughter was dumped by her boyfriend shortly before the trip making her mother the only person she could take with her. The entire trip is hilarious as the mother is a fish out of water and is cringe worthy from start to finish. One especially cringy scene is when the daughter is sun bathing and the mother is dressed "like a beekeeper" as she is covered from head to toe in clothes and then proceeds to cover her daughter from head to toe in factor 50 sun cream.

WONDER WOMAN 

The trailer for 'Wonder Woman' is full of action, strong plot, romance, adventure with high production values with mesmerizing combat sequences with a strong female superhero in the center of it all.

It will appeal to every superhero fan as well as every action fan. With very well known actors it makes 'Wonder Woman' all the more appealing, Chris Pine and Gal Gadot. Any fans of Chris Pine or Gal Gadot will see 'Wonder Woman' but also any superhero movie fans will also see this movie. Thanks to the high production values of 'Wonder Woman' there are many enthralling combat sequences with large amounts of VFX.

This is a very classic safe choice due to the large amount of attention a superhero movie attracts as well as the star marketing that they exploit, central roles of Chris Pine and Gal Gadot.

THE BEGUILED

'Beguiled' follows the rescue of a enemy soldier during the American Civil War.. He is injured whilst fleeing combat. All of the women in the house come to his aid. Soon however sexual tensions begin to rise and the women all start battling to win the affection of the soldier. Kirten Dunst's character confides in him saying that she wants to 'leave this place' whilst Elle Fanning has physical and sexual contact with the soldier going behind her sisters back. Soon it becomes apparent that the enemy is within the family.

TRAILERS: STYLES

According to Dan Skinner from Film Space there are different types of trailers and the trailers style will depend on a variety of different factors. The trailer would be crafted to suit the film's target audience. The trailer will also develop various questions in the audiences mind which will be solved when they watch the film.

I watched a series of clips that explained the factors that can affect the style of a trailer.
For example:

• The Teaser Trailer- The teaser trailer is usually between 10 and 30 seconds long and it is used to create hype for the film and excite their audience. The teaser usually lacks story and narrative and is solely focused on a short voice over and creating hype, the trailer is usually very fast paced to keep the audiences attention up. I am personally very aware of when new teaser trailers are released and in most cases they convince me to pay to watch the film in the cinema. For example I am a big Sci-Fi fan and I am also a big fan of the Alien franchise. So naturally when the Alien Covenant teaser trailer was released I knew that I had to watch it and I went to see it the day after release at the Odeon in Kingston. Teaser trailers may also use star marketing to make the film evenmore appealing within the 10-30 second time that the trailer lasts. 
• The Main Trailer- The main trailer is the trailer that briefly tells the story of the film and it contains the most narrative. This trailer will usually follow the teaser trailer between 2-3 months after the teaser trailer. This trailer will further exploit star marketing but will contain fast paced shots. Dan Skinner also said that they split the trailer up into 3 Acts. A beginning which usually contains a voice over and is usually a slower pace compared to the end.  The second act is the middle and it usually consists of narrative and storytelling, this is where the problems of the film arise- these problems would be solved in the finished version of the film. Finally act 3 consists of a fast paced montage, or a compilation, of clips from the film that will further generate hype for the film before reaching a climax. 
• TV Spots- TV spots vary in length from 10 seconds, 20 seconds and 30 seconds. The reason these times vary is because of the high costs of advertising on TV but also the short attention span that most people have, we have a 'snackable' attention span. A 2 minute film trailer on TV would not succeed due to the fact that people would lose interest along with a variety of other factors, for example background noise from around your house, you might have left the room during the advert break.
• Using Graphics- There are two types of graphics use din a trailer.'Copy' helps tell the story of the film and usually includes writing as well as a voice over. 
• Trailers in the Digital Age 

RESEARCH: OKJA

On the 5th of June we on to Netflix as a class and we watched the trailer for Okja. Due to it being a Netflix original it was not released for cinematic screening. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival 2017 but received huge amounts of controversy due to it being a film without a cinematic release.

Cinematic trailers are shown before cinematic screenings of films of a similar genre. Despite the fact that cinema managers protect the window in which films are screened the majority of money a cinema makes is from the food and drink served and not from the actual tickets.

Okja revolves around the conflict within the food industry and the debate of Animal Rights, as the film features themes of animal activism, corporate greed and scientific ethnics.  A trailer needs to signal genre and narrative efficiently and rapidly in order to not lose the audiences attention and to keep audience retention.. From this trailer, it is clear that audiences are invited to sympathise with the small innocent girl who, along with her cherished animal, takes on the might of corporate greed, personified by Tilda Swinton's character. 

For Stuart Hall, the meaning of the text resides in the interpretation of the viewer. For this film, the preferred reading would be on the side of animal rights (on the side of the protagonists) partly because the little girl and her giant pet pig are so adorable. The trailer depicts establishing shots that romanticize the countryside and its serene, peaceful setting. The song Dedicated to the One I Love plays throughout the trailer, and these words essentially capture the spirit of the relationship between the teenage protagonist and her giant pig due to its soft and loving lyrics. 
In keeping with all trailers, there is very little dialogue, often consisting of one liners so that is easy for the audience to understand. This keeps the audiences' attention and ensures that they are not bored from long blocks of dialogue. Most marketing teams would rather show you what is happening and not tell you. Like all trailers the trailer ends with the title of the film as well as a release date (28th June).