Soul Synopsis

FAITH MASON, aged 16 years old, opens her soul to a spirit known as a XAVOUR after going through emotional distraught and being broken down after the loss of her parents in a sudden car crash. With FAITH’s soul being in such a delicate state the XAVOUR makes her a deal: in order to heal her soul and make her well again she must be connected to his soul, allowing him access into the mortal world. Despite FAITH accepting the request in mending her soul, her mindless and broken attitude still continued as an effect of the XAVOUR slowly taking control over her mind and actions. Upon re establishing herself at a private school set up through the council, her attempt to try and emend a normal life once again was destroyed by the telekinetic and supernatural abilities that the XAVOUR embodies, becoming too much and eventually resulting as a danger to others at the school. Eventually the only option the school had was to contact a supernatural institution and ask for assistance in order to secure FAITH’s safety and understand why this is happening. DEMI MALICE, a scientist in exploring and studying supernatural existence, is summoned in order to help FAITH’s condition and offers to take her to an institution and help understand the violent supernatural behavior. 

Upon arriving at the institution FAITH was then put under constant surveillance to monitor the supernatural behavior as DEMI attempted to make conversation with FAITH through a security cam microphone and learn more about her. While the XAVOUR was trying to convince FAITH to leave and that all that the institution offered was a lie she suddenly snapped and stated that she is in control of her own life despite being connected him. Slowly after this incident she began to come to terms with her powers and the company of the XAVOUR however after a while of going through tests in order to discover the limitations of the XAVOUR and their connection FAITH started to become increasingly weaker, only to discover that the tests her and the XAVOUR have been going through are slowly breaking the spiritual connection between them. 

FAITH decides to confront DEMI about the matter and upon getting no significant response FATIH then relies on force as well as the power of the XAVOUR in order to gain an answer. DEMI’s assistance then assault FAITH and locks her and the XAVIOR in holding for further interrogation. The XAVOUR repeats his offer of setting her free and expressing his hate for their false appeal of helping her, ultimately having FAITH give into his offer after losing her trust in DEMI's intentions. The XAVOUR attempts to make himself partly mortal in order to come into contact with solid objects at the cost of FAITH losing consciousness, breaking all the security cameras and unlocks the door keeping FAITH in the interrogation room; reverting to his spirit form and telling her to run. They both escape from the institution and run away with the intentions to start a new life without DEMI’s watch. After running for a significant amount of time FAITH suddenly breaks down and apologizes to the XAVOUR for not listening to him sooner and promises that she'll become stronger and braver so he wouldn't have to always protect her at the cost of his own existence.
Recapping all of the experiences they had undertaken, a bond of friendship was formed between the two, with FAITH then giving the XAVOUR the name ‘SOUL’ wanting to refer to him in a better tone. After journeying together for a while they suddenly realize that DEMI and her subordinates were still in pursuit of the two despite ANTON, DEMI's subordinate who treated FATIH with the most care out of everybody, trying to warn her that DEMI would stop at nothing. With FAITH now being at full health  SOUL breaks the spiritual connection between them in order to protect Faith from getting caught, ultimately splitting his own soul back into 5 pieces, with the core soul being taken by DEMI back to the institution. Heart broken and suddenly regaining the familiar feeling of loss after the passing of her parents, FAITH then decides to take action instead of wallowing in self pity as she did before and made haste to gather the remaining 4 parts of SOUL’s soul. Because of the mythological background SOUL had the 4 pieces of his soul took the form of a wolf, a tiger, a lion and a crow finding their way back to FAITH and eventually leading her to the institution to storm the building and take back SOUL. However because of the experiments they had began on SOUL’s form as well as him being unattached to a human source, he became increasingly weak to the point of nearly fading away.

DEMI upon accomplishing her desires in opening a small portal to the spiritual world with SOUL's help, begins to deteriorate by now having no soul to connect hers with she tried to flee however starts to get dragged in. FATIH exposes herself in order to push DEMI in however begins to fade away herself. Knowing that all along SOUL wanted to materialize into the mortal world FATIH sacrifices her life force to him in order to make him whole, stating that it’s her turn to save him from fading away. SOUL now being mortal decides to not let these events be forgotten and decides to re-establish the organisation and to help those who are suffering from paranormal activity such as people like FATIH were. After a while of conducting his new team he suddenly realizes that the remains of FAITH’s soul is still attached to him however this time they are in opposite places.  

Soul: Audience Profile

In terms of target audience I wanted 'Soul' to appeal to a teenage audience as well as a fanbase of thriller / horror films, looking for at least a 15 or 12A certificate in order to appeal further to these groups of people. My reasoning for appealing to a teenage audience for 'Soul' was because of the themes presented , being governed by a higher status society and having everything including your freedom decided for you, as well as the situation and personality of Faith herself, feel detached and isolated from the rest of society because of her differences. By Faith's character being inspired and referenced from numerous other films including the characters of Hanna, Carrie and Andrew from Chronicle I came to realise that the target audience for this films were teengers and fans of the genre due to the relatability of the characters, having all all 3 consist of having a lead teenger and 2 of the 3 being based around the lives of teenagers and dealing with the differences they have to others.

  this lead me to believe the younger teenage audience was drawn to this because of the gratification need of escapism and realising that being able to associate themselves with a teenage lead allows them to put themselves in the characters shoes and diving into their life ultimately forgetting theirs for the screen time of the film.

 Psychographics:

For teengers, a horror / thriller film would make a perfect chilling atmosphere as well as intense mood appropriate for the genre to appeal to teenagers looking for a teenage film to watch with a group of friends. This would be not only have the audience relate to Faith but also due to the atmospheric aspect of the film causing them to indulge into the world of 'Soul.

As for thriller fans: Soul would appeal to them due to the conventions presented within the film, creating an intense and dramatic thrill appeal as a result of the quick cuts, toned down grayscale colour scheme as well as the plot twists and characters which demonstrate binary opposites to be included within the final prduct. With all of the above include to exemplify the political and social themes presented, making a comment on society which thriller films often make, this would ultimately attract thriller fans to 'Soul' as a result of this.

Lastly due to the cross genre 'Soul' would also appeal to a horror audience. this part of the genre however was difficult to capture while also keep the main story and themes because of the typical jump scares and presence of blood and gore instead of the more atmospheric approach, which 'Soul' was more tailored for. By having a more atmospheric approach this would ultimately build an uneasy mood and vibe for the film, giving the illusion of generating uneasy and unnerving scenes to watch; giving a different kind of scare compared to a quick jump scare. 

This would be presented by the presence of Soul carrying the supernatural aspect of the film in not only having the presentation of Soul hidden from the audience and being oblivious to what he looks like but also him lurking around Faith however being unseeable.   

Hanna Equilibrium Theory

Chronicle: Equilibrium theory

Hanna Trailer Analysis

Hanna, a unique teenage girl like no other, has been undergoing intense training by her father, an ex - CIA agent, to become the perfect assassin with having the strength, stamina and smarts of a fully fledged soldier. From the isolate Finland wilds, her intense training take a turning point after Hanna’s father sends her on a mission across Europe in order to take out a ruthless intelligence operative who has dispatched agents to capture and kill both of them for reasons still unknown. However as Hanna approaches her ultimate goal she is suddenly faced with the daunting truth behind her existence as well as the secrets of her father's ambitions.

The intense thrill of Hanna was captured perfectly through the trailer, having it’s exciting, original score co-exist with the visuals on beat. As usual the beginning of the trailer started off slow displaying the characters and their current position in the story and towards the end having the pace quicken to an intense action sequenced, continuously until the end cut off point; leaving the audience lusting for more.

Although the trailer was partly misleading, in some cases being good or bad, it could have set up the wrong impression for the film as the beginning of the trailer has Hanna within an interrogation room presents her almost as a young criminal and the overarching story being that she must escape for purposes that were not present in the trailer. However instead was about her being a trained assassin and taking down the head CIA experimentation facility.

this factor alone could have been the reason why the box office for Hanna wasn't as successful as it could have been, only in taking an estimate of $13,000,000 on the opening weekend in comparison to the original budget of $30,000,000. Although as soon as the film came available to DVD the over all grossing skyrocketed to $40,000,000, perhaps because of the true story being released for people to witness instead of the misleading trailer which originally set p the wrong pitch for the film.

Chronicle Trailer Analysis

Plot:
Following the shy and lonely outcast teenager Andrew Detmer, he decides to document his  high school life with a camera; using this as an escape from his abusive alcoholic father and bullying from school. His cousin Matt Garetty upon driving to school invited Andrew to a party however on the night, meeting up with school friend Steve Montgomery they decide to explore a mysterious hole in a field near the party after overhearing unusual noises. Venturing into the hole deep underground the 3 wake up the next morning with no memory and the footage lost from last night. The only thing they had gathered was from last night they had gained telekinetic abilities, with Andrew experimenting and eventually becoming the strongest of the 3. As time continues however Matt sees that Andrew is becoming too strong, endangering not only himself but others around him, causing their great power to bring their dark sides out.



The trailer and even the film of 'Chronicle' consists of a very long and unique style where the use and effect of cameras angles and shots can only tell the audience so much as the entire film is shot from a handheld camera despite a few exceptions of security cameras. This almost has the effect of the audience being a member of the group with Andrew, Matt and Steve, sharing the secret they all have. The camera furthermore represents the feeling of secrecy and mystery, being slightly cut off from the rest of society.
Although the way the key plot points was given away in the trailer ,very much like 'Carrie', it still left a lot of curiosity for the audience to go off of as the subject of the telekinesis and super human abilities are a big success in the film industry, having a hug hit if done correctly. This also comes into play with the choice of camera movement playing a huge part in telekinesis power and how more realistic the powers the more successful the theme of the story is. With Telekinesis plot points being exposed the curiosity is still peaked as to how these characters lived with these powers and what made Andrew turn to use his powers against others; In comparison to How Carries situation was exposed and how she reacted being revealed within the trailer instead of teasing the audience with what she might have done.

the trailer and even the film Chronicle consists of a very unique style where the use and effect of camera angles and shots are limited to what they can tell the audience as the entire film is shot through a handheld camera despite numerous security cameras, almost in the way that the film ‘Clover field’ was filmed. this almost has the effect of the audience being a member of the group with Andrew, Matt and Steve, sharing the secret that they all have. the camera can furthermore represent the feeling of mystery and being secretive, as if cutting off from the interaction of society and perhaps keeping to themselves instead of risking exposing their secret.

Although the way the key plot point was given away in the trailer ,very much like Carrie, it still left a lot of curiosity for the audience to grab onto as the subject of telekinesis and super human abilities are a big success in the film industry if done in the correct way. further more the superhuman power being present in films other than super hero or marvel films creates even more of a success as it leave the audience on the edge as to what the film might contain or play out, if not following the generic superhero conventions that most films that present this power has. This also comes into play with the choice of camera movement playing a huge part of the telekinesis power and how the more realistic the power is the more successful and well received the film is. This choice was obviously well perfected as well as the marketing scheme for the film playing a huge part in presenting the trailer as the box office shows the opening weekend in taking $22,004,098 and overall grossing $64,572,496;  nearly 5 ½ more than the original budget for the film.

With the telekinesis plot point being exposed through the trailer the curiosity is still present as to how the characters have lived their daily lives with these powers and what originally made Andrew turn to his darker side as shown in the trailer or if it was even Andrew at all doing this out of his own free will.

Carrie (2013) Trailer analysis

Plot:
Outcasted teenager Carrie white is currently in her last year of highschool however suffering from being the daily victim of bullying by Chris Hargense and her group known as the ‘it crowd’. While living with her religious yet disturbed mother Margaret, Carrie is brought up in a strict religious environment of believing that self punishment is the way of answering for sins. This act is especially strengthened when Carrie panics after experiencing her first period and is recorded on camera as a prank from Chris. With Carrie’s mother seeing this as a sin she instructs her daughter to go to her closet and pray for forgiveness however due to the emotional distress of embarrassment and confusion from school this has resulted in her telekinesis power awakening. Upon discovery Carrie learns how to control this power and tries to keep it under control however with her mom seeing this as a sign from the devil and Chris plotting a prank at prom, the power Carrie has learnt to keep under control may prove to be too difficult when in the face of hatred and sorrow.





The constant transitional fades throughout the trailer make the pace rather slow but at the same time effective in the way it climaxes at the end. With the slow paced pans, zooms and eerie digetic and non-digetic soundtracks creates a psychological insight on the religious as well as isolated themes the characters are foreshadowed to face.
The soundtrack on the other hand in the second half of the trailer after prom was announced fitted perfectly in foreshadowing the madness and corruption Carrie would soon unleash and showing what her powers are capable of.
Although the sound and visual effects played their role perfectly the suspense and mystery left which usually captures an audiences attention and wanting to see more is little to none as it feels as though everything which happens within the film has been presented. The curiosity which the audience is suppose to be left with after a trailer is quenched by everything shown so far despite carries fate and what would happen after these events.

Genre Change

Originally wanting my Trailer to be based upon a sci-fi film and containing sci-fi conventions, I realized upon researching the genre, conventions and films that have been constructed following the conventions are extremely limiting to make due to the amount of equipment and effects needed in order to express some of the key plot devices. In doing so I came to the conclusion to change my genre to thriller / horror as the previous research I did concluded that within the budget I have as well as time span it would be extremely difficult to construct an effective and believable sci - fi trailer in terms of keeping to the conventions and appealing to a sci-fi fanbase.

BBFC Ratings : AVATAR

The British board of film classification is an independent, non-govermental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/DVDs since the video recordings act was passed in 1984. 

The BBFC, British Board of Film Classification, was set up by an independent, non governmental body in order to place age restrictions on films, DVDs, video recordings and games so that any explicit scene was not witnessed by the eyes of a younger audience, not being able to view certain events that may be disturbing at their age.. 
Originally the BBFC was founded in 1912 as a result to monitor the content of films and propaganda through world war 1 and to try and honor those who went off to fight instead of putting the name of war in a bad light. When the war was over the BBCF still continued to rate films in order to keep a strict clutch on what was view-able to certain ages. Over time however what is now classifyed as a 12 could easily be classafyed as a 15 a centory back as society slowly grows. Because of the age ratings in place film producers still try and keep some scene driven towards the over all plot while at the same time obiding by the BBFC rules in order to appeal to a wide audience such as 15 or lower, genre dependent.
For example the Horror, comedy and some sci fi's usuall tend to be a higher rating because of graphical scenes or adult themed language or humor. On the other hand animated films which may conists of fantasy or thriller can be found mostly 15 below, some thrillers depending. 


As a result of the ratings program in place it had concluded in some films having to cut whole scenes out of the film for example if something is to graphic and the prodcers wish to appeal to a younger age rating.

For example:
The BBFC's guidelines at '12A'/'12' state that 'Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context'
The sci-fi / fantasy film AVATAR under took no cuts which is usual for this genre, where as a genre such as horror or thriller may have to cut and tweak multiple scenes to get the age rating they desire. with a lower age rating the more people they can appeal to for the opening box office. On the other hand there were a few hiccups within the production as Avatar came out at an age rating of 12 where as the producers wished to have a PG film. This was because many of the battle scenes shown on screen with supposed people getting injured and even killed, while some were off screen it still made it clear upon what was happening and didn't hide it. We also see some moderate violence, including sight of arrows piercing bodies, fight sequences where characters are heavily kicked or punched, and a fight scene between a man wearing a large metal body armour suit and a fantastical creature. however through all this there are no focuses on blood or wounds which anyone has sustained and the more gruesome parts appeared off screen.

AVATAR: soundtrack analysis

(Complete soundtrack of the whole film)

Sountrack 1) You Don't Dream In Cryo:

This is the first soundtrack of the movie to open us up to the outer space feel where the film takes place, far beyond Earth. This soundtrack has a mix of both dramatic live music and soft opera singing to perhaps hint at the clash of futuristic and destructive Human technology which is used through the film against the Na'vi and their ways of living on Pandora. It certainly gives you both sides of the story as almost foreshadowing the rising tension between the two races. Further more, at some points while it's playing the soft dramatic violin pieces it can link to how Jake Sully is in the middle of the conflict, being torn between his duty as a soldier and his loyalty to the Na'vi. Parts of this piece also plays while he is narrating on the way to Pandora in the beginning, further suggesting that it is representing the clash of two races through out the film and the choices that Jake will have to make in order to prevent the destruction of not only the humans and the Na'vi but also Pandora itself.
Over all, despite all of the above, this piece still manages to carry an out of space feel to it, suggesting to the audience that this is uncharted territory that the character are entering, and not anywhere close to our home planet as we know it.All the themes carried through this one piece however it is still not an unusual musical composition for the film and very much fits into the category of mainstream sci - fi blockbuster films, perhaps wanting it to hype the audience for the impact as well as action of the story.


Soundtrack 2) Jake enters his Avatar:





The name of this piece alone suggests discovery and adventure, and that's exactly what is coherently heard through out the piece. The build up of the music up to 2:00 suggests that Jake has just entered his Avatar and is now discovering what the world looks and feels like in the body of one of the Na'vi. first on it also has tribal sounding music which could mirror the thought of him being in another races body, giving a slight hint into the personality and ways of the Na'vi.
At 4:50 minutes in the music suddenly uplifts to a dramatic piece as if screaming adventure to the audience as well as how magnificent the Avatar bodies are and the possibilities they hold.

Soundtrack 3) Pure spirits of the forest:





This piece mirrors the first venture into the dense forests of Pandora, having the dramatic and almost horrific daunting parts of the music to suggest the dangers of being in a new place and the predators that surround them. This also sets the audience on edge as to where the Na'vi may be located and if they will run into the on the humans first trip into the forest. towards the end it also has a most sinister sounding touch to it as could mirror the obscurity and unknown of the forest, reflecting the feeling of being alone and lost in an unfamiliar place.

Soundtrack 4)  The Bioluminescence of the Night :



This soundtrack is the first piece we hear after Jake come into contact with one of the Na'vi as well as the spirits which inhabit the forest. instead of giving off a very alien like feel the piece instead relates to somewhat native american type music as it caries the spiritual vibe which their music did long ago. It takes away all the tension which built up with two coming into contact with one of their kind and instead of having it as a violent confrontation it instead had a very calm and spiritual presence, which clashes greatly with the music which was displayed with the human technology on screen.

Sci - fi case study: AVATAR

Sci - fi Case Study: Avatar from Blitzura

Sci-fi film genre