Task 3 | Jaxmine Onyango

Analysing a Genre Changing Trailer

A genre changing trailer, also known as a recut, is an edit of an already existing trailer. As the edit implies the trailers genre gets changed, like an example a horror to a comedy. Some edits are harder to do than others like turning a romance into a sci-fi. These edits change the genre by switching various techniques and following a different genres codes & conventions

Get Out is a horror film that's core theme is about racism. The plot in the trailer is

about a couple going out to see one of their families and then realising that the
town and its people aren't safe to be around. The first sound in the trailer is a
knock and we get close ups of the couple. The music is sombre and quiet and we
hear Chris having a phone call with his friend who's joking with him. Overall there's
a lighthearted tone that almost makes the trailer feel like its for a romance film.
This stops when the car suddenly gets hit by something and there's a sound effect
of a string instrument. This gives off suspense and is a very common sound for
horror trailers. When the couple get to Allison's family, there's a sudden black
screen with a thud sound. This makes the audience suspect that something might
be off about the family, but before they can speculate any further there's a fade to
the family again afterwards. The shot here is levelled but there's a clear power
dynamic going on between the family and the couple, specifically against Chris.
Everyone but Allison's father is sitting down while the father is interrogating the
couple. Him and Chris laugh but right after there's the string instrument sound
again with a scene of Chris finding out about a maid, which is foreshadowing for
how the family really thinks of him. This is also the turning point of the trailer where
other than sound effects there's no music. The string instrument sound effect is
used heavily throughout this trailer to create suspense and is altered a few times to
be more louder and scarier. When the father talks about how the mother can do hypnosis, there's a sound of her spoon and teacup. This sound is echoed to have a chilling effect and is used repeatedly in a rhythm, almost like a clock used for hypnotising the viewer. Camera movement is used to get the audience to look at or with something, an example being at 1:26 it being used almost as a point of view shot for Chris and him feeling better looking at someone who's also black in this neighbourhood. At 1:28 the camera moves right as the other person turns around to look at Chris. The lighting is dull for scenes outside and blue and black for more scarier scenes in the dark, blue and black matching the colours of the title which appears at the end of the trailer. Around the end of the trailer the shots change faster and become more violent, which is a classic horror trope to scare the viewer

The recut changes the tone of the trailer entirely into a comedy. Instead of the
knock at the beginning it opens with an upbeat song. The only production studio
that shows up at the beginning of the original is Universal but Blumhouse
Productions also gets credited. There's an establishing shot of a city and a "Voice
of God" talking about the characters. The first scenes play out the same with a few
added shots of them both while Allison talks about Chris. The lighting for the
scenes where they first meet the family is noticeably brighter than the original to
give a more friendly tone. The racism in the original film is used for horror but in this
trailer its used for comedy and is the joke. While talking about Obama there's a
linear wipe transition and a sound effect for it. This once again makes the trailer
feel more easygoing and friendly, but also comes at the cost of feeling less
professional. Transitions were rarely used if at all for the original trailer for this
reason. There's an added scene that introduces a new character that's not in the
trailer, this character was probably cut in the original trailer for being a lighthearted
and loud person which would go against a trailer for a horror movie if kept around
for too long. Chris says a line about him thinking he's been hypnotised and
afterward there's a scene with the mom stirring her teacup and a shot of Chris
crying. In the original this is a terrifying scene but is treated as a joke here from how
its quickly cut and the lighting being much brighter. There's also the lighthearted
music still playing over it with trumpets, a common instrument used in comedy trailers. Before Chris' friends finishes swearing, there's a linear wipe transition and Allison saying no with a smile. This is meant to be a joke in itself. There's also a record scratch noise for when someone else tells a joke and Chris eyes them awkwardly, something that's also common in comedy trailers. The "Voice of God" names the actors, something the original trailer didn't do at all except for showing the directors name with text, in a welcoming tone. The title also appears at the end and is a plain red against a white background, plain titles are used in comedies alot of the time. The title is also said by the "Voice of God" while there's a popular rock song playing over it

Movieclips Trailers. (2016) Get Out Official Trailer 1 (2017) - Daniel Kaluuya Movie. [Online Video.] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzfpyUB60YY. Accessed at: 02.11.21

Patrick (H) Willems. (2017) GET OUT recut comedy trailer. [Online Video.] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omw92DNLYiE. Accessed at: 02.11.21

Daily Diary 02/11

Today I analysed a genre changed trailer and the original of it, talking about the differences in both trailers and the techniques used to change the trailer. Tomorrow I will have to start on storyboarding the trailer

Analysing two trailers like this helped me with ideas on how to edit my trailer and I learnt that sound effects can have a major impact on how something feels (like with the original trailer using string instruments to create suspense). I will make sure to use sound effects like this in my trailer as well

Original Trailer for The Phantom of The Opera

Film Synopsis

synopsis

00:00 / 00:16

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical about the love triangle between Christine, Raoul and The Phantom of the Opera. The story is mostly set in an opera house and the film uses song to express how a characters feeling, like in most musicals

The film starts with a prologue of an opera house being sold. An older Raoul goes to buy a music box as the auctioneer talks about an old chandelier that they describe as being the result of a "strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, a mystery never fully explained." There's then a transition of the chandelier being on and a flashback of the opera house. The audience are aware that this story has happened already

The time turns back to 1881. Christine is the star of a show happening in the opera house as the original actor suddenly quit. At the show Christine is recognised by Raoul the Vicomte de Chagny as being his childhood friend. Christine's singing also got the attention of a mysterious figure called the "Angel of Music". Raoul talks with Christine backstage and leaves for a moment, which is when The Phantom comes to talk to her. He leads her to the sewers below the opera house to have her sing a song he made. She faints from shock because of a mannequin in the mirror reaching out to her. The Phantom puts her on a bed but she soon wakes up because of a music box playing. Christine reveals The Phantom's mask which makes him upset so she gives him the mask back

Original Trailer Analysis

Duration: 2:27

Text on Screen: at the beginning, talking about bringing a classical musical as a film. also tells when the movie will come out "This Christmas". Title shows at 2:14. Release date at 2:18

Voice Over: beginning by one of the characters, talking about their theatre and the phantom of the opera (character)

Selected extracts of Dialogue from the film: The only dialogue in the trailer is at the beginning, after that it's just song

Music/SFX: quiet piano(?) music at first and then 0:17 there's suddenly loud organ music stops, at 0:33 gospel song continues after. 0:55 a modified version of the organ music from the beginning, signaling that this is The Phantom's theme, the song feels sinister. it then seamlessly transitions into a different song with vocals at 1:05, we see a shot of both The Phantom and Christine which implies that its The Phantom singing

Montage (edited sequence of selected shots from the film): 0:23 the monochrome suddenly fades away, meant to be a time-skip. 0:36 montage of the theatre and people dancing and playing music, get introduced to Christine. 0:53 there's a scene of her dancing with Raoul and immediately after a shot of The Phantom looking angrily in the dark, fade to black after (happens a lot in scenes with The Phantom). 1:27 there is a scene of The Phantom looking at Raoul and Christine kiss and a close-up of The Phantom looking upset as it fades to black. immediately after there's a shot of Raoul breaking a mirror which creates suspense, this is when the trailer has more fast cuts and suspenseful shots (Raoul and Christine running up in a corridor/up the stairs, a girl crying, someone drowning, Raoul and The Phantom having a sword fight, someone riding a horse in the dark, ect.). A rose drops on the ground in snow and there's a fade to black

Restricted Information / which creates enigma: 0:43 we don't see who they are at first as its too dark, a sudden breakaway from the montage. there are a lot of scenes of partying and the main characters but for the most part we don't get to know anything about them other than visuals as there isn't much dialogue in the trailer

It Communicates Key Information: clear that there is a love triangle going on and that this movie is a romance around the 1 minute mark, before that its very vague

Film Title / Release Date, Director, Actors, Certificate, Distributor/ Studio logo: warner bros. pictures at 0:33. "A Joel Schumacher film" at 2:10. many studios, actors, musicians and the director credited at 2:19

Indication of plot and genre (the primary function is to promote the film): beginning. we get a montage of a masquerade party and a figure in the darkness. we then get to see the figure properly when they're at the theatre with everyone else, 1:04. 1:05 there's a montage of The Phantom and Christine going in a boat ride lit by candles, which feels romantic. there's a shot after of Raoul running down the stairs before it fades to black which implies that Christine isn't supposed to be here with The Phantom. we then see a scene of Raoul with a weapon facing against The Phantom which tells the audience that they do fight, and with the scene afterwards being a scene of Christine in the middle of them it implies they're both fighting for her. all of this isn't explained but more implied by the way the shots are connected with each other. these scenes make the audience understand that this is a romance film with a love triangle

Initial Concept for Genre Changing

I have two ideas that I could do for the trailer. One idea is to still have the love triangle aspect but to exaggerate the conflict between The Phantom and Raoul to make it more comedic, possibly while making Christine oblivious. This may be easier to do but I also have another idea. The second idea would be instead of a love triangle I could make The Phantom an over protective parental figure to Christine and have Raoul have to fight him to get together with Christine. I feel as if this idea would be more funnier but also harder to edit as The Phantom isn't usually vague on his fascination with Christine being love. Another option I can do is also combining the two, making The Phantom a jealous and possessive ex-lover to Christine but that may be too close to the original film and lean away from being a comedy. The rest of the film would mostly still be the same, but I may switch the order of the scenes so that the trailer is also setting up for Christine starring in a production at the end. This may not be something I will be able to do though as it would stray away from the genre being comedy. I have to rewatch the film again to get a better understanding of what scenes to use

Foley sounds I might need are sword sounds for the sword fighting scene, footsteps for scenes with The Phantom in the dark and of fireworks for a scene with the masquerade ball. There's barely any sound effects in the original trailer other than just music. I am not sure what sound effects I will need as I don't fully know what scenes I will use for the film yet

For music I can use some of the songs in the film as some might still fit the trailer. Most comedies use music with an upbeat feel and trumpets, which I may use. Another option is to also use music that feel more regal and elegant to match the original films themes as a joke in of itself

Text will be used as flavour like in the original trailer ("the classical musical comes to the big screen for the first time"). This is also how comedy films usually use text. I may have voice overs from the characters instead of a "Voice of God" narrator as it'll be an easy way for the audience to understand and get invested in the characters and will allow for the characters to tell jokes naturally

The production company logo will be the same. Warner Bros. have a large variety of genres they do (drama, action, fantasy, thrillers, ect.) with comedy being one of them, so it wouldn't feel out of place. The BBFC rating would be a PG-13, a rating common with many comedy movies, as at worst there would be slapstick humour

Daily Diary 03/11

Today I had to write about the original movie trailer for Phantom of the Opera and my ideas for what I will do for my genre changing trailer. My homework will be to finish writing up the first 30 seconds of my planning for the recut trailer, which I have started on but may scrap entirely

I may also have to rewatch the film to get ideas for scenes to put in my trailer as I'm not sure on what to do. I started on my planning but now that I look back on it I worry that it's gone too far from the usual comedy codes & conventions, it starts off too dramatic with the fade from black and one liner voice line. Changing the story to be about Christine being a star at the end may have caused that

Trailer Sound Requirements

Production Log

unlinking

As there is audio in the original video, I had to unlink it. I did this by right-clicking on the video in the timeline and clicking on unlink

Daily Diary 04/11

Today I had to finish the planning for my Genre Changing Trailer and I start my rough edit of the trailer. My homework is to find the materials I will need to make my Foley sounds (studio lights turning on and of swordfighting). I also have to send my finished rough edit to two other people, I can get the template for feedback from Canvas. As I had a maths test at the beginning of the day, I wasn't able to finish my rough edit. I have to come back tomorrow to finish it

I only have 12 seconds of my rough edit done as I had just began on my rough edit. I still have a lot of work to do and am worried I won't be able to finish it in time even though I have an extra day. I'm not sure if I have done well with sticking with the comedy codes & conventions because the movie itself doesn't have many jokes, but I tried to keep within it with the sound effects like the record scratch

Rough Edit

Peer Assessment

Storyboard Plan

Peer Assessment Evaluation

From what I can tell from both responses in the Peer Assessment, the narrative and genre of the trailer was clear. The narrative was expectable for a comedy but the title wasn't. I will have to change the title to something else in the final edit. Many comedies have short catchy titles and are usually named after a noun (Last Christmas, My Spy and The Voices) or a person in the films name (Cruella, Borat and Kenny) so it won't be too difficult to think of a name. I was also told to possibly change the font of the text as they don't fit and I may do so as the text feels too childish

One said that the music didn't fit the genre which I agree with. I will change the music in my final edit for that reason and also because I think it fits more with a romance. They hoped more voice overs would be added in the final edit but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do any as the original film is a musical and they don't actually talk often (especially without background music over it). They also said that a sound effect of footsteps could work for the scene of The Phantom going down the stairs and a sound effect of the letter falling from the ceiling, which I agree with and will add in my final edit

A critique I got was to add more comedic sound effects in the trailer, which I'll try to do but I'm unsure of what to put in and where. One of the responses said I may have to put in more scenes to efficiently use more sound effects and I agree. Another critique was to cut down some of the clips as they're too long (which I agree with and planned to cut down a few of the scenes with Christine and Raoul) but to add more shots to further the narrative. I will try to do both

Overall both of them said the rough edit had potential and that the pacing was good. I will keep their criticisms in my mind as I continue to finally edit my trailer tomorrow

Foley Research

Footsteps are a very common foley sound. Most use actual shoes to do the sound and the same go for horse hooves. Stefan Fraticelli uses actual horse hooves for the sound but he also says that you can use coconuts. As I don't know where I'd even get horse hooves, I'm sticking with coconuts. I can easily get these from any marketstore like Sainsbury's or Asda. A tip given for emulating the sound is rhythm and layering. However as the scene with the horse is paired with Christine's singing, I feel that any more layering of sound would distract from that

For the sound of a letter falling and opening I will just use an envelope. I can easily find this in my house, but if need be I can also buy some from the Royal Mail. The problem is being able to pick up noise from the envelope, however I feel as if I can do this by bringing the microphone closer to the letter as it falls or opens

Swordfighting will require metal and editing in post. What type of metal isn't as important but it's been noted that tempered steel (steel that's been exposed to heat and then cooled down) is better than diserent metals as to get that classic "shing" effect in movies. For example of two metals there's a video of someone using a hammer and a knife to create this effect and then it getting edited to fit better afterwards. Its recommended to use metals that have sections that bend. For editing I can add a slight reverb and use gain to make a swing sound bigger, this adds more impact. I will use metals already in my house (earwax removers and pins) for this effect

ASDA. (Year unknown) ASDA Grower's Selection Coconut. Available at: https://groceries.asda.com/product/mango-kiwi-exotic-fruit/asda-growers-selection-coconut/30694. Accessed at: 07.11.21

FilmSound. (Year unknown) How to create medieval war sounds?. Available at: filmsound.org/QA/medievalwarsounds.htm. Accessed at: 07.11.21

Insider. (2018) How Horse Sounds Are Made For Movies | Movies Insider. [Online Video.] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggIzq8JUK44. Accessed at: 07.11.21

Kyle Blyth. (2013) Sword Foley Sound Effect. [Online Video.] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uea1noBQs8. Accessed at: 07.11.21

Monroe. (2019) What Is Tempered Steel?. Available at: https://monroeengineering.com/blog/what-is-tempered-steel/. Accessed at: 07.11.21

Royal Mail. (Year unknown) Envelopes. Available at: https://shop.royalmail.com/postage-and-packaging/envelopes. Accessed at: 07.11.21

Sainsbury's. (Year unknown) Sainsbury's Coconut. Available at: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/loose-produce/sainsburys-coconut. Accessed at: 07.11.21

Foley Discussion

papers (letter)

coconuts (walking)

metal (sword)

I used two coconuts, paper and metal earwax removers to record with. Coconuts are one of the common things to use for horse footsteps and sound real enough. I used paper for the shot of the letter falling as they'd both sound roughly the same. The metal earwax was used due to the recommendation to clash metal together for sword sound effects, this will also be edited to sound better later on. It only took one take for each Foley sound (each being around 20 seconds) as the scenes they will be used in are reliatively short. I recorded the sound using a microphone and headphones so I could hear how the Foley sounded as it was recording. The sounds came out exactly how I wanted them to as it was clear and would be easy to imagine what the sound effects were for for someone who didn't know. However I will say I should have watched the trailer as I was doing the Foley sounds to better sync up the audio

Daily Diary 09/11

I had to come into college to record my Foley sounds today. This was quick and only took about half an hour to do as my sounds weren't too complicated. Tomorrow I will have to finish my rough edit and any extra work on the checklist

Final Edit

Thumbnail

Bibliography