Main task- Research- Radio trailer

I have been looking in to the use of radio trailers when advertising a film. I drew a spider diagram of some of the benefits of doing it, to decide whether it would be one of the things i would do in the course...

I looked in to the prices and how you would make an effective advert, I found;

For around £1500 you should get a one or two week campaign of three or four 20-30 second slots per day.

It is a format that translates a message in a very powerful way and can now be implemented into even the most modest of advertising budgets.

 The associated advertising costs for Radio depends on the frequency and type of radio station you are advertising on. For example advertising on a radio station with an advert at 9.00 am on Capital Radio London will cost you more than a similar advert covering a 20,000 listening audience in a regional area.

There are also four key points to radio advertising...

1. Pinpoint Your Audience.Every radio buy must begin with a clear understanding of the listeners you want to reach. Write a one-sentence target audience profile based on the demographics of your prospects. This should include their age, gender, where they live and other factors, such as household income. Then share this information with the sales reps from the stations you're considering. They'll tell you what percentage of their stations' listeners match these demographics and at what times of the day or during which programming you'll reach your best prospects.

2. Know What You're Buying.The three most important elements when evaluating proposals are reach, frequency and cost-per-point. Reach is the number of your prospects that'll hear your marketing message.

3. Look for Special Sponsorships.Radio stations are promotional engines and there are at least two ways you can get on board. First, most stations offer the opportunity to sponsor news, weather reports or other types of regular programming.

4. Entertain the Audience.
Once you've evaluated the proposals from the radio stations and negotiated and finalized your buys, you'll need effective spots. Since radio spot production is rarely a do-it-yourself job, you'll most likely work with a local production company, agency or station. But you should understand a few basics to be an effective part of the team and keep them on track.

Great radio spots grab and hold attention, usually through humor. They may also use sounds, compelling music or unusual voices to grab attention.

Although some of this doesn't apply to my specific radio trailer, such as the costs as they wont be real and the use of humour as a thriller trailer wouldn't usually use humour, however i found the rest of the information helpful and plan to now do another spider diagram on what to include in mine...

Website used http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/177002


Questions.
How would I put it together?

I would begin with reviews possibly from 'real people' who have gone to see it at the cinemas. I would then use a voice over to introduce the title, the voice would say something like.. "on 18th January. Lily was taken. Captured, alone, confused and accused, would she ever escape?"
Audio from the film such as Lily's screams would be included, and appropriate dramatic music would be added.

Using what technology?

I would probably use final cut to take some of the audio clips and use some of the audio effects from the selection on the hard drive. For the voice i would use recording software.

How effective do you think this will be?

With the combination of an effective voice and realistic reviews, I think it would sound legitimate as well as exciting on a radio station. The use of real audio from the film, especially the sound of screams, will intrigue the listener and maybe make them watch. Leaving the trailer on a cliff hanger for example "will she ever escape?" will also have this effect, hopefully.

How will it attract your target audience?

My target audience would be young adults possibly from 16-21. Although, it is a thriller which is slightly more sophisticated than a horror, so the age could range slightly more than that. I think the story line would attract the audience with its sense of mystery and the fact the main character is of a similar age.

Using what technology

Main task- Diary Entry 3

I was thinking about filming and realised weather was an issue, as it's January and i am filming outside. I have looked up weather reports in an attempt to find a still day. I also researched sunset and sunrise times, as for my time lapse shot these are neccessary.

Main task- Diary Entry 2

I have completed a teaser poster, it tells very little about the actual movie so that audiences are intruged and therefore watch the film.
I completed it on Publisher and included original credits, the picture was taken using a fish eye lense and it is the potential location that the film will be shot at.

The use of fish eye was also to give the impression someone is looking through the lense of a gun, or a telescope, whatever the audience wants to interpret.

main task- Diary Entry 1

I have now completed my first, rough draft of my script. It needs a few changes such as naming the antagonist and formatting it properly. I will be working on it next week as well as doing a teaser poster.

Main task- poster analysis

Thriller Character creation (part B)

Which three thriller characters share similar characteristics/emotions/ ethics/ values/ with your character and what makes them different?

Although I have previously used the example, I will use Evellyn Salt from 'Salt'.

This is because I feel they share some of the same values, for example the importance of keeping quiet and not telling the truth straight away. This is shown in my film as my character says she knows nothing and throughout the film Salt as her intentions are ambiguous and she never really says.

I also think they share the some of the same emotions as they have the power to manipulate their own emotions for example Salt can pretend she is emotionally attatched to someone very easily and then just as easily shoot them-my character pretends to be severely terrified when she is captured although she is well aware the man terrifying her will be dead in afew seconds.

I feel their characteristics differ slightly as towards the end it is clear Salt is a spy however in mine her occupation remains ambiguous. Also we see much more of Salt's home life like her neighbours and boyfriend, where as my character seems relatively isolated.

She could also be compared to Cateleya from Colombiana.

This is because they share some of the same physical characteristics, as I plan for my actor to have dark hair and eyes and a small build. The character in Colombiana witnessed her parents death and has become a cold assassin becuase of it. In this sense she shares the emotional state of catelaya as they can both remain cold in situations others would become emotional over. However it is not actually Lily who shoots, it is the woman on the motorbike, so you could say that Cateaya is a more extreme version of my chosen character. There values are similar as emotion comes after the job always.

You could also compare her to Fox from Wanted (2008.)

My character could be compared to Fox because of her physical characteristics and obviously her assassin type job. However unlike the other two she is almost a sidekick to someone else,  similarly in my film this option is shown. They both share the same ruthless personality and are not frightened of death or weapons.

Feedback from my pitch

The class generally liked my idea for the main task and helped me out with some of the issues I had, such as;

Who is the mysterious person who shoots the antagonist?

and

What could my Tag line be?

One of the suggestions was that the person should be the female spy who my main character is mistaken for.

And a tag line which I liked suggested by someone else was 'Running in to danger'.

I will take both of these suggestions in to account and the pitching definitely helped as it demonstrated my idea suited my chosen target audience of 18+.