Thursday 4 February 2016

Studio Production: Trailer Test Shoot Planning

A test shoot of the promotional trailer for Teach 'Em A Lesson is going to be created by myself, the DOP, a VTs director and a VTs camera person. We have chosen to create a test shoot of the trailer instead of the opening titles as practising the use of POV will be very helpful and beneficial for the final trailer.

As previously explained, the overall idea for the trailer is this...

  • A 30 second to approximately 50 second long piece - as per average television trailer / advert times
  • POV (point of view) based footage using a GoPro helmet
  • In a similar style to the opening titles, there is a slow reveal that there is an adult getting ready for school
  • However, this is through POV footage of someone small going through a typical morning for a child. E.g. eating kids' cereal, putting on a school uniform etc.
  • This leads into them arriving at their classroom still in POV shots to see a teacher (the presenter) saying they're late and to sit down
  • They look over at their classmate - who's an adult, and as they look back the shot switches to a high angle medium shot of the two adults sat at their desks with the 'student' used for the POVs saying "sorry" in a high pitched voice - changed in post production
  • The logo appears and the presenter has a voice-over line, e.g. "The teachers are going back to school and it's time to Teach 'Em A Lesson! Starting this Wednesday at 4:30pm on CBBC!"
  • GFX appearing throughout in a checklist style. E.g. 'School Morning Rules' 'Eat a healthy breakfast! (tick)' 'Brush your teeth! (tick)' 'Don't be late! (cross)' in the style of the chalkboard logo
The trailer will be deliberately comical to relate to the production's style and heavily stick to the theme of adults in a school environment to roughly and quickly explain the type of show that Team 'Em A Lesson is. This idea will also be easy to follow and understand for children, as it would be aired on CBBC.


The test shoot of the trailer will be simplified in location, actors, props and costume, as the main focus will be on camera technique, directing and editing. The decided roles for the shoot are as follows...

Director: DOP (Patricia)
Co-Director & Sound: VTs Director (Mary)
Camera: VTs Camera Person (Harry)
POV/Student Actor: Producer (Myself)
Second Student Actor: Harry
Teacher Actor: 2nd year student (Jordan)
Producer & Editor: Myself

Between all of us, we have also decided on the running order of the test shoot trailer. Which consists of the actor (myself) doing as follows...

  • GFX (blackboard shot for test shoot) 'School Morning Rules...Wake up on time!'
  • Waking up
  • Blackboard: 'Have a healthy breakfast!'
  • Eating childish cereal
  • Blackboard: 'Don't forget to brush your teeth!'
  • Brushing teeth with childish toothpaste & toothbrush
  • Blackboard: 'Dress smartly!'
  • Putting on uniform
  • Blackboard: 'Don't forget your school supplies!'
  • Packing bag with school supplies
  • Grabbing a childish backpack
  • Blackboard: 'Don't be late!'
  • Feet running to school
  • Sound of school bell as approaching door
  • Open door to see moody teacher saying "You’re late!"
  • Blackboard: '...Oops!'
  • Takes seat
  • Pair of adults sink in seats and look at each other, revealing it’s adults
  • The POV student says "Sorry" and pulls awkward face at camera
  • Logo appears with voice-over consisting over a line such as "The teachers are going back to school and it's time to Teach 'Em A Lesson! Starting this Wednesday at 4:30pm on CBBC!"

The specifics of the test shoot are:

Locations


Maidstone studios: Entrance, base room, library, kitchen, hallway & lecture room.

Costume
Megan: Pyjama top, shirt, cardigan and school-style shoes
Harry: Shirt, jumper & tie
Jordan: Shirt, trousers & tie

Props
Alarm clock
Child cereal
Bowl & spoon
Child toothbrush & toothpaste
School bag
Lunch box
Childrens books
Pencil case
Notepad
Chalkboard & chalk


For specific planning of the shoot, I created a shot list, Patricia created a storyboard and Mary created a script.

Below is the shot list...

























And the script (revised and updated by myself and put into Final Draft)...



We seem to have everything planned for the test shoot and well prepared, I'm looking forward to testing out the trailer ideas.

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