For our reconstruction of a media text, we had a choice of the music videos for 'The Script song - The man who can't be moved', and the for the 'Nirvana song - Sliver', there was also a choice of two film trailers 'The Lucky One' and '127 Hours'. Due to the difficulty of reconstructing the two film trailers becuase of the rock climbing that would be to hard to get a reconstruction of in '127 Hours' and they were explosions within 'The Lucky One' trailer so again it would be to hard to create a reconstruction. So we had to choose between either 'Nirvana' and 'The Script' and we chose 'Nirvana' our reconstruction took place in the green room at college.
We made our own drum kit out of a stool and some boxes as we couldn't get a drum kit together, we also borrowed a bass guitar and microphone from the music department. We used Harley Young, Sam Shaw, Daniel Williamson and myself. Harley Young was the main singer within the video therefore he did the lip syncing, I was the drummer and therefore had to time when to hit the drum so that it matched the beat. Danny was playing the bass guitar and therefore he had to look like he could actually play the guitar. Sam was one of the props and we put him in a monkey onesie which and gave him two make shift cymbals which he had to bang together in order to recreate the video. After we had finished filming we all took turns in using the editing suites so we all got an idea on how they worked. We were able to get a background similar to the one in the video by editing the green screen with an image of a bedroom. This is the finished piece:
We also made another reconstruction however this one was more of a joke, however it did turn out well. This was a recreation of the cadburys advert were the gorilla plays the drums, we did this as we had spare time and had the monkey onesie and the make shift drum kit and decided that we would make another reconstruction. This time Sam Shaw was the protagonist and he had to time the beat of the drum to the video so it looked correct. This is the piece that was finally created for the gorilla recreation after editing had taken place.
Film Trailers can have their each and own different set of
codes and conventions depending on the genre of the film. Although there are
still some conventions that are used throughout all film trailers which are
seen as a guide on how to make a successful film. There are different ways in
which you can put into your work, these include; Cinematography, such as camera
shots and angles can connotate certain things therefore making it a code.
Another method that you can use is editing, with editing you can use things
such as continuity or montage to represent different things and you could also
use the speed of the editing. Mise-en-scene is also another way in which you
can use codes and conventions through items such as props and costume. Lastly
the sound can also be used to add codes and conventions into your work. All of
these will be needed in a film trailer in order to make the film successful. On
average a film Trailer will last around 2:30 minutes, that is not a lot of time
to put all of these things in so therefore they have to really think why and
how they can put these methods into their work.
Cinematography
can be used in many different ways to represent codes and conventions, one of
these is close ups, these are usually used in a film trailer to represent the
protagonist (main character), this way before we have even watched the film we
have gained the knowledge that the person shown is the lead character and it
also gets us emotionally attached to the character so we want to go and see the
film for the character. They can also use establishing shots so that we know
where the character is, this way we get a feel for how the film may pan out. A
good example of both of these techniques in a film trailer is ‘Slumdog
Millionaire’, as within the first 20 seconds we get these two shots which give
us the feel that the man in the foreground of the close up two shot is the
Protagonist and the man in the background could be a big part of the film and
we also can find out that we’re in a game show.
Other
shots that can be used include over the shoulder shots which can sometimes show
the protagonist and what they have to do, or the mess that has been made by them,
this is usually used in action films or thrillers. An example of this would be ‘From
dusk till Dawn’ as it shows a building in the background being blown up and the
two characters walking away to show they’ve done that and they’re getting away.
Going
back to ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, not only is there Cinematography techniques used
within the trailer to show codes and conventions there are also Editing methods
used as well such as, Non-diegetic elements, as in the trailer it shows on the
screen a question and it gives you four answers, this then builds on the
earlier code that we are in the setting of a game show and takes us that one
step further to that we’re on ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ as the question
is set as if it would be a question on the show, not only does it show us this
but It also gives us the storyline as it shows the question saying how did
Jamal Malik win 20 million rupees and then gives you the answers to choose from
and it then give you the answer saying ‘it is destiny’ so therefore we now know
that it is about the man in the foreground, Jamal Malik? Winning 20 million
rupees on who wants to be a millionaire because it was his destiny and we know
all this because of the codes and conventions that are used throughout the trailer.
There is also a fast paced montage edit used in the trailer
of the stuff that’s happened in his life so far which gives you the feel that
everything has rushed by leading towards this one moment in his life, during
this montage you see other characters which you can tell will be a big part of
the film such as a brother which will be his companion on his life journey and
also what could be a love interest or ‘one true love’. These are again all
found out through the use of the codes and conventions within the trailer.
Mise-en-scene is also used in order to show codes and
conventions throughout the film as you can see here in the Slumdog millionaire
trailer as it shows the setting of when he was younger and the clothes he is
dressed in and this shows that he comes from a poor area and that they don’t
have much money, therefore we feel sorry for him as he has been brought up with
not much money which gives us an emotional attachment towards the character,
the image from the trailer also shows them jumping from a rooftop which tells
us also that they haven’t had a very safe upbringing.
Lastly Sound is another way in which Codes and conventions
are used as there is an upbeat soundtrack playing in the background whilst
there is the montage of his childhood and he always looks really happy however
the music changes to a slower song when the girl ‘Latika’ is left behind from
the train which shows that from that moment on he hasn’t been the same because
he hasn’t been with his one true love so we get the feel that everything he’s
done from that moment onwards has been done so that he can find Latika again.
Overall Codes and Conventions are used in film trailers in
order to show what the genre of the film is and also, how the story will pan
out throughout the film and why it is going to go like that. Therefore codes
and conventions are what makes up the film trailer so that the audience can
then read them to understand the film.
