Studio Production: Researching for new Trailer, Trivia, Mockumentary ideas

Trailer ideas and inspiration 

Trailer Research and Ideas

The changes to the VT rounds are as follows; 

• 1 feature instead of 4 mini features
• 3 to 4 minutes 
• Mocumentary style where we follow his journey as he practiced for auditions
• Questions will be asked and the task will be based on memory and what details where shown
• Come up with more questions
• create a 1-2 minute trailer for Norman 

To me, branding is one of the main parts of being a VT Producer because without understanding what is necessary for the show, content would be inconsistent and it wouldn’t fit into anything. This is where liaising with the Producer is important because he had a clear idea on the theme as well as target audience. The show had a glittery and glamourous theme that ran through the whole brand. Thereby creating room for a wacky character called Norman. The juxtaposition was there and it is definitely something that I would want to capitalise on. One of my challenges was finding the balance in his actions without making the show childish so I will continue to brainstorm until I find the perfect medium. 

Trailer Ideas

Since the VT ideas have changed and been condensed into one VT task, there was more time on the clock and so we were given the task of creating a trailer for Norman. 

I thought it would be a good idea to look at spoof trailers to get some inspiration because of course Norman's trailer will be very low budget and home made. Below are some of the ones I came across and I thought they would be great starting points for the trailer

(taken from "homemademovies" on Youtube)

What I loved about these trailers are the silly, unserious aspects of it. I love the home made costumes and stuck on elements. It really heightens the cheap aspect of it and I think this is definitely something that we should do. I was unsure about the copy right issues but I asked the VT group to see what they thought about Norman being his own hero or should he imitate a hero that already exists such as Superman & Batman. 

Ellie mentioned a good idea that we could call it "Nor-Man" and he could be his own hero. I loved the name and it reminded me of spider man so I think it would be a good idea to recreate a spider man trailer but swap the spider elements for film elements. For example, instead of a web coming out of his hand, maybe he could throw DVDs or oven film rolls from his hand in the same manner as Spider Man. I took it upon myself to have a look at Spiderman's trailers to see which one would be best to incorporate.

Mockumetary Research

Ian Lewis’s ‘Guerrilla TV- low budget film making’ (2000) states that; “There isn’t really much time to make things up as you go along” as well as “being too rigid will destroy the life and the credibility of the programme”. It is interesting to see the importance of having a balance between preparation and creativity and by having this in mind I went onto looking at examples of Mockumentaries as well as shows which featured socially awkward characters to note possible actions I could include in the new script. I needed to understand what a Mockumentary is and the Arts guild.com helped me with this as they claimed, “using fiction under the guise of fact to reveal truth” as well as the idea that “they tackle a realistic subject and portray it as true to life as possible. Augmenting aspects to parody them and reveal their flaws”. (The Art’s Guild, 2017) I now understand more about this genre and will therefore brainstorm some possible ideas regarding that description.

Modern Family

What I liked about Modern family is the style in which it is shot. Some of our feedback from the previous test shots was that we should add some movement and depth and I think the way in which the camera always moves and jolts is something we should take on board for our VTs. This is more for the Directors to visualise but it is an idea that I would also like to put forward. 

characteristics like napoleon dynamite; 

Napoleon Dynamite has a very unique character as he fills a lot of his interactions with awkward silences. It is very believable to the character because he does it so well. I would want to create a character that has similar motivations however I would want it quicker in pace as Napoleon has a very slow way of interacting. Nevertheless I think this is a great starting point when looking at what actions we can in corporate to our VTs.

possible actions for Norman's mockumentary; 

• The documentary crew knock on Norman's door
• Greets them and shows them in 
• He usher's them inside
• the arrive in the kitchen where he introduces her mum
• She is hidden by the open fridge door and you can only hear her voice 
• He talks briefly about what he's doing
• She gives the crew a warning of what not to touch in the house, still hidden behind fridge door
• He usher's towards the "Den", the door has "keep out" in very childish writing written on it
• Cuts to him in his den
• Talks to the camera about his "special place"
• Starts a little tour of his room , camera goes from medium shot to a wide to show the peculiar state of his room. "Taddaaaaa" - arms open in excitement.
• cuts to new shot
• pulls a box from underneath of somewhere, whilst explaining the importance of his auditions. "this is my BIG BREAK"
• he makes the crew shuffle back" Get back get back, this is top secret" or "back off bitches! got a heavy load!
• They shuffle back
• He rummages in the box and a spring snake flies out "haha whoopsie"
• He throws things out, camera looks at some of the things that falls on the ground then pans to him
• "Aha! eureka" - Norman is holding a camera and a tripod
• camera pans to him to reveal his setup
• Cuts to camera 2 (POV style) "This is norman and this is my big audition"
• shuffles back, does the weird mannerisms 
• rummages back into the box, the sound of comical noises clatter. Horns, we hear a vibration noise. leaps up and shouts "whoopsie daisy!"
• goes back into the box, quickly pulls out the scissors 
• blankly snips at the air
• norms's mum calls out to him - "Normie what do you want for dinner?"
• norman lists out what he wants
• mum replies "is that all?"
• Norman "ye mam im tryna watch me weight" 
• Cut to camera two, norman runs back and checks himself out on camera two
• Cut to camera one, mid shot, doll pops up in frame , cuts to a wide
• "how do you talk if you don't have a brain?...mime's her voice 
• phone rings, causes interruption *Jurrasic park theme song*
• Norman stops his scene to answer the phone
• "hello Norman Bates speaking... what do you mean I didn't get the job as batman??
• He storms out of the bedroom to the kitchen
• in an angry fit of rage, he rants to the camera swinging his arms around
• eventually knocks over a plate 
• Camera pans down to the shattered plate
• We hear norman's mum shouting "normie!, that better not be my bloody plate
• Camera faces him again. He makes hand gestures to tell them to "cut it"

Trivia VTs
Since this segment is required to fill some time, I don't want it to be a mundane VT that nobody pays attention to. I would want the audience to be interested in the content therefore I aim to make it visually pleasing. The example below is a great starting point as I believe it will fit the style of show the Producer wants. 

What makes this visually interesting is the incorporation of the actual images/ clips that refer directly to what he is talking about. If we are going to do the same, I will have to find a way around the copyright issue as I am sure we will not be able to use actual footage from movies without permission. It is not a risk I am willing to take, therefore I would suggest using animation to illustrate points and make the video much more entertaining with the use of special effects and sound effects.

Next step:

• Come up with interesting questions and facts for this trivia VT
• Hand pick the best ones that I think would allow good and interesting visuals 
• Talk to the editors to see how comfortable they would be with enhanced sfx.