Critical Reflection

My film trailers for One Moment showcase the idea of never taking anything for granted, because in any moment, anything can happen. The trailers follow Summer, a senior in high school who struggles with severe anxiety and also struggles with making friends due to her scrambling mind. The other main character in my trailers is Alex who is also a senior in high school, but instead, he is outgoing, has a ton of friends, and overall, just has the most perfect life... well, that is, until everything changes. 

Since I chose to do the film promo package, I had to create two trailers that basically illustrate an entire plotline for a film. Because of this, when coming up with my idea, I had to make an entire plotline from beginning to end. At the of my hypothetical film, Alex ends up passing away from cancer, and him and Summer's entire relationship has a purpose, which is to allow Summer to understand that instead of spending time worrying about what other people think, it's more important to do things that you love, like for example, Alex helps Summer find a passion for photography, specifically in nature. In the beginning of the "film," she sees it as just a hobby and nothing more.

Originally when coming up with my idea for this project, I wanted to do something completely different. Even down to deciding which promotion package I wanted to do. At first, I chose to do the music video, and then I changed it to the short film. Of course, I ultimately decided to pursue the film promo package. When beginning my research, I looked into things like, romantic comedies and animations, obviously two very different things. I had probably changed my idea five times before finally deciding on what I actually ended up going with. 

After finally deciding on my plot for One Moment, my research began. I knew that in order to portray someone with severe anxiety, I would have to do some research so that in the end, no one is offended, and so that it is represented accurately. I researched anxiety in general, as well as specifically in teens. I used multiple sources where I learned that anxiety is very common among teenagers because adolescence is a time when people experience social expectations, academic pressure, and identity development. School environments are known to increase anxiety because of pressure to succeed socially and academically. I also did my research on not only psychological symptoms, but also physical symptoms. I then used that research to portray Summer's character. For example, in a lot of articles, fidgeting with your fingers and tapping your foot is a common trait that people with anxiety have. So, when filming, I got some footage of me doing those things. 

I also researched other movie posters under the coming-of-age genre to get an idea of what I wanted to create for my thumbnails. I specifically researched the posters for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Eighth Grade. I really liked how for the The Perks of Being a Wallflower poster, there were multiple characters in it because you often don't see that in coming-of-age film posters. I also liked how the background of it popped, so I decided to do that with one of my thumbnails. In the poster that illustrates Summer on the swing, the wall behind her is supposed to represent the wall that she has built up towards others, and the blue sky is supposed to represent her overall emotions of sadness and loneliness. This helps engage with my audience by having a direct meaning that correlates to the film trailers.

The last major thing that I took time to research was social media pages, specifically Instagram. I noticed that for a lot of coming-of-age films, the Instagram that promoted it often posted content like behind the scenes reels/photos, cast photos, and release date announcements. I posted all of those things on my Instagram page, and I think it matched well with the coming-of-age genre. I also saw that specifically for the film, To All the Boys I've Loved Before there was a specific hashtag that they put in the caption of every post, so I decided to do the same thing. I typed out "#onemomentceo" for every caption of every post. 

I would say that overall, my Instagram page helped engage with my audience by illustrating a specific theme/brand, as well as by having a consistent posting schedule. The brand that was illustrated throughout my entire Instagram page was very lively and consistently used details like cameras and film which represents Summer's found passion for photography, and the colors blue and green, which is supposed to represent not only very nature colors, but also the blue represents Summer's sadness. I would say that the trailer, the Instagram page, and all three thumbnails have a very similar "theme" and overall branding, which was my goal.

The actual trailers themselves represent how some people that experience life with anxiety may feel when put in social settings. I illustrated this in the beginning of trailer #2 when it shows Summer's constant tapping of her foot and all the overwhelming noises overlapping each other. I honestly really like how that scene turned out and it may be one of my favorites! The trailers for One Moment also represent the idea that in any given moment, anything can happen (which I discussed earlier). This is illustrated when the trailers switch from showing Summer by herself and being lonely, to having a strong relationship with Alex where she is constantly smiling, laughing, and overall enjoying her life.

 With help from some of my classmates, I decided to include a flatline noise for the ending of both of my trailers because I thought that it was a good way to engage the audience and have them wonder "Why is that there?" "Does this mean someone dies?" "Uh oh... is it, Alex?" The whole idea of a trailer is to make the audience want to see your actual film. It ties them in. So, in my opinion, adding that little key detail at the end was a great way to do just that!