RADIO TRAILER

SEE OUR RADIO TRAILER HERE.


 RESEARCH 
Today we looked into radio trailers for films using the 1970s radio adverts for cult movies. This is a very rich resource which displays many radio adverts. Most have a clear formulaic structure:

Introductory soundtrack with key sound codes that not only signal genre but also can be a recognisable sound that signify a particular film.

Followed by sound and dialogue from the actual film, this hints to the plot and provides a taster for the audience. This section usually contains dialogue which does not need visuals to back them up. It is usually fairly simple and only 15 seconds long.

Finally the trailer concludes with information about when the film is released, where it will be screening and what rating the film has been awarded. This leaves the listener with the important information required to go and see the film and is usually delivered within the last 8 seconds of the trailer.

 




















 JAWS 2

The trailer open with the recognizable theme tune of Jaws, as this film is a sequel it all ready had a market audience, who will relate to the tune as soon as first heard. This helps to signify genre as the music builds starting off quiet and slow and then building until finally reaching a crescendo. This sets the genre as action and adventure, instantly telling the audience what to expect from the rest of the trailer and film.

 The first section of narrating comes in almost instantaneously with, 'The legend continues'. This tells to the listener that the film is obviously a sequel, it also conveys a genre and theme of action and adventure as the word 'legend' is normally associated with people going on adventures.  The introduction of dialogue taken from the actual film begins around 3 seconds into the trailer, with "That's a shark", this gives the listener a taste of what to expect from the actual film, as well as giving away a few memorable or important moments from the film that would entice an audience in.

The trailer finishes with the narrator telling all the vital information about the film such as where and when it is being shown, 'in the west end and all over London NOW' and the rating it has been appointed, 'certificate A'.

See the trailer here

 






 


















STAR WARS

• This radio trailer opens with sci fi sound effects of light sabers. This instantly sets the theme and genre of the film as sic-fi fantasy. 

• 7 seconds in the narration starts introducing the name of the film, "Star wars", the voice is made dramatic and distorted in order to convey the genre, sic-fi. 

•  "is great family entertainment", sets a target audience and indicates early on who the film is appropriate for. 

• "still showing on the giant screen at the dominion, Tottenham court road", indicates to an audience that the film has already been showing for a while, suggesting it is good enough to still be showing to audiences. It also gives clear indication as to where it is being shown, in order for audience to go and see it. 

• In the closing of the trailer, the narrator gives the information of, "certificate U", this provides the audience with all the information required to see the film.

• The trailer finishes with the films tag line: "May the force be with you", the final selling point of the film.  

• To subside the radio trailer, an alien/robot sound effect plays out, this sound is from the actual film, giving the audience a taster, showing off new technologies from the film.

See the trailer here

 
















SUPERMAN

The radio trailer opens with, 'Sooner than you think you'll believe a man can fly'- which is the tag line of the film itself, mixed with the introduction of recognisable theme tune from Superman. 

The trailer then entices the audience in by building up tension and expectation for what they will say next, "nothing you have ever seen, heard or imagined, will ever prepare you for this reality, Superman..."

The music fits with narration as when narration pauses the soundtrack is amplified. 

The narrator then addresses a target audience directly, 'Superman is now the film' this attracts a fan base that already have a liking for Superman through the comics. As well as addressing a large audience of young people interested in comics and superheroes. 

The idea of a modern look and a spectacle is suggested through, 'awesome technology of modern film' this makes it sound new and exciting.  As well as it would intrigue an audience thats interested in the effects and visual amazes. 

The trailer draws to a close with the Directional information, familiarising the audience with the creators of the film: 'Alexander Salcon presents a Richard Donner production'.  

The last information the audience hear is the vital information they need to actually view the film. The narrator says, 'certificate A, now at six west end and selected suburban cinemas'. This leaves the audience with the information they need and is a good marketing technique. 

See the trailer here

 







 PLANNING OUR RADIO TRAILER 

Today we mapped out a script and thought about what we wanted to include in the radio trailer. We wanted something sweet and original. We decided to start it off as if it were a story, this instantly gives away the themes of the film and gives a suggestion into the plot line. 

Following on from previous research, we had to ensure we stuck to typical codes and conventions that go with a radio trailer and so made sure we included factual information such as what, where, who and what. We also wanted to use our tag line of "Shh quiet in the library" which gives hints as to the genre and style of our film. We followed this up by thinking about using a snippet from the film itself and perhaps using the music from our film or a sound effect taken from it.

I made a Bubbl to show the planning process for making our short film radio trailer. 

 Click here to see the Bubbl.





PLANNING 2


 I made a Bubbl to show the planning process for making our short film radio trailer. 

 Click here to see the Bubbl.




























CONSTRUCTION


THE SOUNDTRACK:

For the backing track that goes with a radio trailer, we wanted something that conveyed our genre of film as well as something that directly links to our film. We found that usually the main music or a certain soundtrack piece from a film is what is used in a radio trailer, this is called a leitmotif, these are used in films such as The Hobbit, Titanic and The Breakfast Club, they connect a certain song or musical piece to a certain film or character from a film helping to make an association between the two. This led us to chose the main soundtrack song from our film as the backing track for the radio trailer thus linking the two. 

THE SCRIPT:
Below is the script we wrote for the Radio trailer, we chose to use three different voices, one to act as the main narrator as is conventional with professional radio trailers, one to be a contrasting voice to the narrator to add interest and excitement to our trailer and the final ones being the voices from our film.

The narrator, (in purple), is a clear and distinguished voice, which acts as the method of hinting to the audience the plot of our short film. The second narrator, (in red), acts a contrast voice to the initial narrator suggesting a confrontation or issue, which again hints at the plot. The final voices, (in black), are quotes taken directly from the film which give a flavour of our film and provide context for the audience without giving to much away.


Once upon a time... Shh quiet in the library

There lived a young girl she was young and looking for love

Why cant real guys be like the men in my stories

When one-day love found her

I see you got my sticky notes

But is all, as it appears to be? 

“I love romance stories!”, “ours is a better love story though, right?”

The ultimate feel good film a modern fairy tale,

CHECKOUT

Coming July 2015

Final Construction:

The construction of our radio trailer relied mostly on editing and creating a engaging and enticing narration and structure. We wanted to instantly convey genre whilst simultaneously drawing an audience in we felt that the way to do this was to start the narration with, "Once upon a time" as this suggests the beginning of a fairytale. To fit with the conventions of a professional radio trailer we ensured we had all the institutional information presented at the end this included a selling point, "A modern day fairy tale", the name of the film "Checkout" and the release time, "July 2015".

To record the radio trailer we used iMovie, we took the audio clips from our actual film footage to act as the quotation clips in the radio trailer. We used the voiceover tool to record the voices of the two narrators, (Myself and Georgina), and then added the music over the entire collection of audio clips.

A difference between our radio trailer and the professional radio trailer, was the certificate rating as research proved that this was only used in larger blockbuster feature films and not in short films. Other than this exception out radio trailer fits to the conventions of a radio trailer.

The usual time limit for a radio trailer is 30 to 35 seconds we made sure we were in this time bracket as we didn't want to make the trailer too long, giving away to much or too short and not give enough information.

Over all the radio trailer is effective and successful in attracting and addressing audience, as it draws in an audience, provides them with enough dialogue to be intrigued in the film and finally gives them the information regarding watching the film and when.