Menace: The Plot/Structure For Trailers

 I’ll be story boarding the trailer in class on Monday but I have at least  an outline for where I want the plot to go. There needs to be an establishment of who the character is, something that indicates what kind of ‘hero’ we’re dealing with. There are two ways I could go about it. The first is a radio broadcast that starts talking about the hero in the third person, discussing their violent and frequent run ins with various criminal elements. The second is to show it in the opening of the trailer. I’m leaning towards the second and using other closeups to showcase some of the darker themes or traits. As far as story structure the trailer will follow this pattern. 

1. Establishment with the main character in a situation where they are able to go about solving the problem. The example that comes to mind right away is stopping a break in or a drug deal, which would be easier to shoot in residential areas near my home. 

2. Introduction to the character’s conflict, where they refuse to kill anyone. This can be done with voiceovers about not crossing lines, or by having them listen to broadcasts about their work. 

3. The challenge. This will present itself as the villain, who I have decided to name Morris Ferrero, whose name is rooted in the Latin word for death(Morten) and ‘ferre’ which means to bring, so his name awkwardly translates to Bringer of Death. The villain will be shown escaping from prison(or still in prison), speaking to the hero about how their system is ineffective

4. Action while voiceover continues. There needs to be action to fill the space in time and having snippets of the main antagonist or protagonist going to blows is needed. There will also be shots of the hero doing hero work or on the chase, as music builds and the verbal challenge continues.

5. The voiceover will climax with the music with some kind of revelation and the rest of the trailer is hero struggling, losing, and being forced to reconsider their options. 

6. Not sure what I will use for font or color for key art, but I’m leaning towards a few scary or dramatic fonts that will abruptly slam onto a black screen. 

I’m thinking of having a villain trailer and a hero trailer, where one is the focus of each, but I know the hero trailer will focus on this kind of structure.