Mood Board

Costume Research- Antagonists

An antagonist can be a lot of things: a maniacal villain; a natural disaster; even a disease. In my case, the antagonists will be a secret organisation who operate from the shadows. Since my antagonists are people, not abstract concepts, they are going to need costumes.

To me, antagonists are almost always more interesting characters than protagonists. I like working out what makes them tick; why they do what they do and how they got to where they are. On top of this, they are often more creatively or uniquely designed because, as I talk about in my other costume post, they do not fall into the protagonist's problem of having to please and be relatable to the whole audience. 

I need my villains to look smart, intimidating, professional and dangerous. Looking at similar villains from other movies, the clear theme is suits. Suits fit all the criteria I am looking for for my characters.

Suits are the perfect fit for my villains, but the issue I will encounter is that it may be hard to distinguish the two characters; especially since they are identical twins. To combat this, the suits will have to be distinctly different. Grey and navy blue are the two most common suit colours other than black, which should be reserved for funerals. Another piece of costume I may want to consider depending on the weather is sunglasses, as they can add mysteriousness.

Costume Research- Protagonist

The protagonist of my film needs to be relatable and accessible, so that the audience attach to them. The best ways to achieve this are through dialogue and appearance, and here I will be focusing on appearance.

Most movie protagonists are white males; this is because in society they are considered by many to be the 'default' or 'average' person. While this is obviously not true, as modern society is diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and many other aspects, it is a trope of almost all genres to have a white male protagonist. In terms of costume, having a character dressed too formally of too shabbily will make them unrelatable. They need to be as average as possible without being boring. Looking at other 'average' characters in film, you can see they dress inoffensively and casually. The other issue I will encounter is having the lead be a teenager. Teenagers come with their own stereotypes, many of which negative, so I will have to take into consideration whether I want to conform to or subvert stereotypes such as lazy and violent through costume.

The sort of costume I want for my protagonist will consist of jeans, trainers or sneakers, a t-shirt or collared shirt and maybe a casual jacket depending on the weather the days we film. At the beginning of the trailer, I plan for there to be a scene where the character is in his home at night. For this scene, he may be wearing pyjama bottoms and slippers.

Location Research

My film trailer will have scenes in multiple, distinct locations. I want locations that are recognisable to an international audience, and this will come in the form of London. Of everywhere in the world, London probably has the largest amount of famous landmarks densely packed into a small location. This makes it a great place to film because it means that I could shoot multiple unique scenes in the same day. The other good thing about London is that because the landmarks are so famous, audiences from other countries such as America and China (the two biggest consumers) will recognise them; this draws them to the film. London is right on my doorstep and this means that me and my actors could take a trip down there and back in a day.

The bridge from the Tate Modern that overlooks St Paul's Cathedral is one of my favourite locations in London.

Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament are some of the most iconic London landmarks. The only issue is that they are always so busy; it is difficult to film with so many people getting in the way.

It would be easy and effective to have a couple of shots with the London Eye in the background.

The other location I have chosen to use in my film is Epsom Downs. Epsom Downs is a racecourse on a hill overlooking London. Whilst not as famous as Big Ben or the Houses of Parliament, the Downs is recognisable to a British audience. The hilly, grassy, countryside landscape contrasts with the dense, metropolitan setting of London; this will create a good juxtaposition in the trailer. Another good thing about the Downs is that, on a clear day, there is a great view of London which would make an impressive establishing shot at the start of the trailer.

The view of London from Epsom Downs looks very cinematic.

I like the vast hills surrounding the racecourse.

Trailer Analysis- The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Open on an establishing shot of a city at night. The setting is stereotypical of the spy genre. The time of day indicates mystery and secrecy which help to establish some of the films themes. The lights in the distance of the shot indicate decadence. They also imply that there is more to be seen; that there are things going on off screen that we as the audience do not yet know about. This is conventional of the spy genre because it implies there is a mystery or conspiracy.

This is the first shot we get of the main character.  It is a close up of him in the back of a car with a gun. Other than the obvious genre indicator -the gun- this shot implies the genre of the film through the use of lighting and character. The high volume of shadows in the shot implies mystery and secrecy. The characters costume; his hair, ring and suit; all give off a high class, suave, James Bond type vibe which is a stereotype of the genre.

This shot is of the ‘villain’ reaching for his gun; a canted angle is used. This builds tension both with the characters and audience because the canted angle makes you feel uneasy and like you have a lack of control. It implies the characters are tense and that the scene is building to some kind of ultimatum.

The main trope of the spy genre in this shot is the car chase. It is a long shot which lets the audience get a view of all the action. It is also a high angle shot which makes the cars look small and inconsequential, dwarfing the significance of the scene. The shot has a clear colour palette of orange and blue. The orange implies danger which contrasts with the calm of the blue, and this reinforces the theme that the peril doesn’t matter.

Following the first scene, there are a number of graphics such as this which appear on the screen for a brief  time each. The voice over they are accompanied with explains some of the back story and context of the film. It conforms to stereotypes of the spy genre by featuring themes of war and international tension. The colour red implies danger and blood which are also conventional of the genre. It could also imply love or romance, which are often featured heavily in the genre.

This long shot gives us more of an idea about the theme of the movie and also tells us more about the main character.  The long shot lets us look at the surrounding environment which we can see is under military rule. We can infer that the setting is Germany from earlier in the trailer. We also see the protagonist in the shot. His positioning directly in the center implies he is important. His demeanor juxtaposes with the environment making him look even smarter. The camera is placed at the horizon line making the character seem important, and because we see his back we are seeing a similar view to him. This makes the audience empathise with him.

 Here we can see the ‘villain’ trope. Without any other context we can tell that the center character is the main antagonist because of his nefarious demeanor. The deep shadows in the surrounding environment; the scientific lab; the evil henchmen and of course the large bomb all help to frame the character in a powerful way. His location; directly in the middle of the shot also makes him look significant because he is the first thing we look at.

This is a low angle shot which makes the character seem powerful and important. His motorcycle, boots and dark clothes make the character look rugged and ready for action; we can see this is a hero type character which is stereotypical of the genre. The setting contrasts with the character by being a bright and happy countryside environment, not the place you would expect an action chase.