Macbeth – Characters for a film

I choose this actor because Macbeth is a Scottish play and Mel Gibson is well known as he played the character of William Wallace in Brave Heart. Mel Gibson is also be very impassive and very vigorous actor depending on the movie genre.

Lady Macbeth – Nichol Kidman.

I choose this actress because Nichol Kidman reflects Lady Macbeth’s character. Lady Macbeth is a character with a fervent stance and Lady Macbeth has a very reminiscent and evocative part to act through out the play. Nichol Kidman would suit this character.

Duncan – Sean Connery

I choose this actor to play Duncan because in the play Duncan has the pre-eminence and has to keep a strong demeanour throughout the play and I think that Sean Connery will reflect this well.

Voice Over

Globeian animations proudly present a stunning kids sequel, from the world of excellence, an animated film staring… Mel Gibson as Macbeth, Nichol Kidmon as Lady Macbeth and Sean Connery as Duncan. This stunning first and only kids sequel is one not to be missed. Watch as this story comes to an animated life with a difference. Witness this animated story at its best, as this story will give you a memory, which you will never forget…

Coming soon to cinemas near you.

To compose this voice over I had to think analyse a series of trailers and look at the language structure used for their voice-overs. As you can see from the voice over the language is very simple and the language structure is also very simple. This is because this trailer is targeted at young age groups.

Commentary

Trailers are the most effective and competent way of advertising and promoting because trailers attempt to encourage the viewers to what the film that they are advertising. The way that this is done can vary a great deal on how the genre of the film, and the film itself is put across. Trailers are a better marketing tool than posters, banners, billboards, magazines etc, because trailers are the only film-marketing tool that uses moving images as well as different camera angles, static images, a voice over and music which reflects the disposition and mood of the pictures and images shown for the film. Film trailers make people aware of new movies and new movie release dates most commonly found at the beginning of rental movies and at the cinema before a movie starts.

Trailers are also shown during the commercial breaks of peak viewed programmes. These techniques used by film producing companies throughout the world are called ‘tent polling and hammocking’ techniques. Trailers are put at the beginning of movies because this is when the audience are paying most attention, so they ‘grab’ the most information. Trailers show publicity film. They attempt to encourage the viewers to view the film that they are advertising by showing the best parts of the film. The parts shown such as are the ones that make you want to see what happens next. This is a skill of publicity gained in different ways by the producers of trailers. The producers have certain ways of producing a great trailer for even the worst of films; they use sound and many different camera techniques to gain the viewers interest in a certain film.

It is true that trailers are the most important and best ways of advertising a new film, whether they are successful or not depends upon how well they are made using the basics skills of media. Trailers are basically the bait to the film, and if the bait is good enough the big fish will be caught! and the film will be a big hit. Film producers only have one shot at making it big with their film. They can’t restart their film, which is why the film depends greatly upon good publicity and its trailer to sell it to the audience. There are many aspects, which have to be taken into consideration when producing and presenting a trailer. The correct audience known as the target audience has to be approached at the right times by the right trailer. This is often achieved quite well in a cinema, by showing a trailer with the same type genre and for the same sort of age boundary as the main feature.

Films are often released in different countries so the marketing campaign will have to change its approach to adapt different; this is often gained by changing images and sound for the campaigns and trailers. The marketing industry in charge of each specific trailer has to consider their competition at the time and they have to be better to have a high profile in the cinema circuit. This can be done in many different ways using different skills and techniques, one of which is known as a ‘teaser’ campaign. This aims to give the public as little information about the film as possible, and from this the producers intend to cause us as viewers to become curious and therefore watch the film.

This trailer which I have chosen to do is based on William Shakespeare’s play – Macbeth. I chose Macbeth because I wanted to face a challenge. Macbeth is set in Scotland and is quite a complicated play. The project itself was to take a children’s animated story and produce an animated storyboard with a voice over. I chose to take a complicated story aimed at a higher aged target audience, but still be aimed at the younger target audience itself. The animated feature itself has been chosen for children because children are generally more interested in animated stories. I have designed the trailer the way that I have because I want the trailer to put across an exciting story to children, by using bold images, but I want to try and make the trailer have an educated side to it as well.

The use of the star system is very important. The names of the stars can depend on how big the trailer will make the film. If the stars in the film are well known, they will be mentioned at some point in the trailers voice over. This is because people want to see the latest releases form the biggest stars. If the stars in the film have a high celebrity status and a well-known image, more people will have heard of them. This will make more people want to see their work. The stars in the film also affect the genre of the film on a massive scale. I have chosen my stars for the film in accordance to the characters, the mood of the characters and the genre of the play. E.g. I chose this Mel Gibson because Macbeth is a Scottish play and Mel Gibson is well known as he played the character of William Wallace in Brave Heart. Mel Gibson is also be very impassive and very vigorous actor depending on the movie genre. This will reflect Macbeth’s character very well.

I designed my voice over to suite the genre of the film trailer I drew my storyboard about. I tried to make my voice over as simple as possible but I wanted my voice over to still affect the viewers by making them wanting to watch the film that film that I was promoting. I would choose an American voice for my voice over because that would open the marketing range. American films are also known to be more successful than British films. The voice over for ‘Chicken Run’ is very simple but effective. It is simple because the film itself is aimed at a young target audience. There are a lot of different language structures used in the trailer for ‘Chicken Run’. This is what makes the trailer very, very, effective. The trailer for Chicken Run has an opening shot, which immediately determines the Genre of the film to be a comedy.

The opening shot of the trailer shows an dominant, evil looking women, watching upon the chickens which seen to be acting suspiciously and mischievously. The film Chicken Run is animated and the film and the view of the characters themselves also tell you that this film is going to be a comedy. This trailer uses many different camera angles. One of the most cynical camera angles is the long shot showing a chicken being catapulted through the air and then the shot becomes a close up when the chicken becomes in contact with the surrounding fences. This also implies that the film is a comedy as well. The trailer seems to focus on the very comical scenes in the film. The voice over for this trailer tells us the important points of the film, such as the actresses and actors whose voices are used for the characters. This is part of the star system.

The ideas used for ‘Tigger’ the movie trailer are basically the same as those for Chicken Run even though they are different types of film with different genres. This is why it appeals to its target audience of a very young age.

The design for my title frame links the era of my storyboard. I.e. the title frame is a picture of a scroll containing writing. This matches the era of my storyboard. By this I mean that the play Macbeth was a play written around the era in which scrolls were commonly used. So I drew my title frame using the basic outline of a scroll. The title frame used in the trailer for ‘The Flintstones. Viva Rock Vegas’, which I analysed, influenced my title frame because it showed me how to use shapes and pictures to make writing link to the era of time the film is set in. The Flintstones title frame also showed me how much the title frame influences the audiences view on the film.

My film logo, which I designed, took a lot of thinking and drawing. First I brainstormed different ideas. E.g. I did a spider diagram on the possibilities I could use for a company’s name. Eventually I chose ‘Globeian Animations’. I chose this because Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare, who also had a share in the ‘Globe’ theatre in London where he plays were performed. I then thought about the ‘Shakespearian’ era and come up with the idea ‘Globeian’.

I chose many different camera angles for each different frame to suit each different frame. E.g. for a frame with scenery, such as a castle on a hillside I used a long shot view and for a picture of a face I used either a close up shot or an extreme close up shot. I did this so that the viewers could see the detail of what was being shown i.e. what was in that frame. The trailer for Mission Impossible II is a very effective trailer. The opening shot of the trailer immediately implies that the film has an action genre. The opening shot is a tracking/panning camera angle shot, which shows us the main characters in the film, Tom Cruise, hanging from a cliff in the middle of what seems to be no-where.

This gives the audience the impression that he is by him self in a desolate area. As the trailer begins, a high-tech map appears on the screen which then zooms in and selects a specific location. The location that is selected is that of the Grand Canyons. The camera begins to track/pan across the location, which shows us where the film is set. Suddenly the camera goes into and extreme close up camera angle shot of Tom Cruises face. This is to show us the detail of the expressions his face at that time. This introduces the main character in the movie. The effect of this is that the viewers will see that a well-known star, which starred in many premiers such as ‘Top Gun’, is starring in a film with a high-tech, action genre. This will make the viewers want to see the movie itself.

The first scene shown in the movie is quite dramatic and looks very realistic. This immediately grabs the viewer’s attention. The purpose for showing such a dramatic scene at such an early stage in the trailer in that it immediately tells us the films genre is that of an ‘action’. Straight away we are shown that the main character is in an environment, which he is used to, he is then set his first mission in the scene and revels some high-tech sunglasses. This will make an impression on young people who are interested in this genre of film. The sequences of shots used in this trailer are very good and work with the genre of the film.

The sound effects for the first scene have been chosen carefully and they make sure that the audience knows that this is an action film. I.e. the original Mission Impossible theme tune is used. Everybody recognises this theme tune and know that it is the kind of them tune you get with an action film. During the scene with the exploding sunglasses, there is a close up shot. The close up is of the sunglasses exploding on the screen, shows off the special effects and this adds to the intensity if the film action. The name of the main actor of the film is shown before the title of the film.

This tells us that the producers are using the actor as a main selling point of the film. This is a very good skill to use when the film is starring a well-known actor because many people will want to go and see that film. The title of the film is shown at the end of the trailer. The title zooms to the end of the screen using a close up shot. This is so that you remember the name of the film. The audience being targeted at the film are mainly male because the trailer shows us high-tech pictures and images , car chases, sports cars, and explosions and these are the things that tend to appeal to a male audience rather than a female audience.

Conclusion

I think that my trailer would be very successful in advertising films because the trailer, which I have designed, is simple but effective. It is aimed at a young target audience and the language used in the voice over is very simple. The film, which I am advertising, will also have an educational side and so parents will be more likely to want their children to go and view the film. The storyboard, which I have drawn, uses animated style images, for a complicated film, which was quite a challenge. The camera angles that I used, I think also help to influence the viewers to watch the film. I tried to make each shot on my storyboard fit in with my voice over. I think that my trailer will be effective because in my view, I met all the requirements needed to make my trailer effective.