EXHIBITION STATEMENT

Introduction:

Have you ever had a creative project that you wanted to share with a large number of people? If yes, then creating a trailer for that project might be helpful. In my research project, I am planning on creating a trailer for a novel I am writing by utilizing images, animation, and filming, in order to introduce the general concept of the story, and appeal to the audience. This project is important because even though there are often trailers and advertisements for movies and TV shows, not many trailers are actively featured for novels or other types of books. Thus, this project can promote a different way to advertise novels that can influence people to want to read them. Through this project, I will be relying on different art forms while asking myself, how can the art of filming and animation be combined to create a trailer that can advertise novels.

Literature Review:

The art of filming has existed since the invention of the early camera in the late 1800s. In the past, films were black and white, and didn’t have sound. These films were called silent films, which were popular until the 1920s when sound and color started being added to films. During the early 1900s, when short film series were being marketed and promoted, there were some people who would first release a film version of a story they made that would usually end in a cliffhanger as a promotion, and later release the novelized version of the complete story. This was an early method of advertisement that people used to promote their stories to the public. Then later in the 1900s, when animated films became popular, animation studios such as Pixar, Walt Disney, and Studio Ghibli continued to release trailers for new animated films. Both films and animation were used since the early days to tell various stories and advertise content. Today, techniques such as manga panel animation are also being used to create trailers for manga. A manga trailer that I saw on YouTube, which combined manga panel art, animation, and music, is the main thing that inspired me to consider this project. In this project, these techniques of filming and animation will be utilized to create a trailer for a novel in order to promote a different way to advertise novels that can influence people to want to read them.  

Methods:

Throughout the working process of the project, research will be conducted on various programs that are available for animation, techniques on animating, and websites and videos with instructions on how to use different programs, and examples of animations that can be useful for references. There will also be research conducted on drawing techniques in order for the animation in the trailer to be appealing. Research on filming will also be needed to learn what is necessary to put together an effective trailer. In addition, it will be necessary to research video editing techniques in order to successfully combine the animation, films, and music at the end to finish the trailer.

Audience & Impact:

The audience of this project will mainly be people who like reading and writing, and are interested in writing and advertising their own stories since the project’s focus is to create and demonstrate a form of advertisement for novels. People who are interested in telling stories through drawings or animation will be a good target audience as well since animation will be incorporated in the trailer. The trailer created in this project can hopefully entertain and intrigue the audience, and invoke their interests towards the idea of creating trailers for novels. The project can also inspire the audience to consider making their own advertisements when they write their own stories.

References:

Hediger, Vinzenz, and A. Antonini. "Self-Promoting Story Events, Serial Narrative, Promotional Discourse, and the Invention of the Movie Trailer." Il film ei suoi multipli (2003): 295-316.

Pavlik, John V., and Shawn McIntosh. Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication. 6th ed., Oxford University Press, 2019.

Brown, Justin. “Wondershare Filmora - Quick Start Video Editing Tutorial!” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Oct. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1bm-pSVLMY&t=907s.

Wondershare Filmora Video Editor. “Make the Best Photo and Video Slideshow! | Wondershare Filmora X Tutorial.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 Apr. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWhjJjhpmQA.

“Tokyo Ghoul: Re - Official Manga Trailer.” YouTube, Vizmedia, 28 Aug. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiL63YN5aZo. Accessed 2 Feb. 2022.

Acknowledgments:

I would like to express my deepest thanks to…

• Gabrielle Tillenburg

• Heather Bremenstuhl

• Harold Burgess

for supporting me throughout this project.