CIE TRAILER ANALYSIS
Cloverfield:
Cloverfield is a film that uses a found footage motif to follow five young New York City residents fleeing from a massive monster and various other smaller creatures that attack the city while they are having a farewell party.
How does it create a sense of genre?
The film uses hybrid genres of Si-Fi, Horror and an apocalyptic scenario. The film uses handheld camera shots which shows the audiences what is happening from the characters point of view. powerful dramatic sounds of screaming/shouting, monstrous roars and big bangs. The trailer uses short, fast paced hard cuts and has a unique style of camera usage as the film is shown through a handheld camera. This film style is known as cinéma vérité, as it shows realistic and documentary footage which creates an intense and horrifying atmosphere. This realistic style of film creates a sense of genre as it focuses on the horrifying apocalyptic scenario and the Si-Fi element in the film, by showing quick footage of the monster.
How does the trailer draw attention to the roles taken, particularly star talent?
In the trailer, the audience are introduced to the main character, Robert Hawkins (Played by Michael Stahl-David) through handheld camera. This allows audiences to understand from what perspective we are seeing the event taking place are from and creating a connection to this character. The trailer doesn't focus much on the other important characters in the film, and are all shown through 2-3 second clips from what happened that night of the attack. This not only informs the audience that the reason for not showing these characters is to allows the audience to speculate and question what is going to happen to them. This creates intensity and suspense throughout the trailer.
What essential narrative elements are explained in the inter-titles?
The use of Inter titles in the trailer is very minimal, however, is very important as the trailer begins with an inter title explaining where the footage was found, making the trailer instantly tell the audience that the footage is going to realistic and documentary. The style of the wording makes it seem like it a leaked government tape/ military tape, which they found from a survivor's camera. the only other inter title that is in the trailer, is about who produced the film (J.J. Abrams).
How does the trailer use dialogue?
The film uses fearful dialogue from Robert Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David), showing him documenting what is happening to him and how he is feeling. This realistic way of filming makes the audience feel unnerving, worried and fearful for the young man. During the trailer there is a shot of a horse and carriage and there is essential dialogue used, being 'are you filming...people are gunna want to know.' this shows to the audience that these people are risking their lives to show the world what has actually happened, further connoting the cinéma vérité style.
What institutional information does the trailer contain, such as names of Production Company, talent, director, release date?
Before the film trailer begins, the trailer shows both Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot iconic idents, but have been changed to appear with a glitch and distorted effect, which already creates a sense unease and shows the Horror genre film it is going to be. At the end of the trailer, there is a continued glitch effect as the title 'Cloverfield' appears, as well as the release date and other credits about the film.
How does the trailer utilise accolades or other key hooks?
The film trailer shows that it had a big budget because of the use of clear CGI and sound effect/ editing effects of explosions, screams and smashing of buildings. This trailer connotes the stereotypical of the 'Big Six' films as the budgets for these high quality films tend to be much larger than films made by small production companies (such as Warp Productions) and so more money can be spent on CGI and special effects. Throughout the majority of the trailer there are very little inter titles and is fast, hard cuts of different action and horrifying clips of different situation happening in the film.
Gravity
Gravity is a 2013 science fiction thriller film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and is about two American astronauts who are stranded in space after the mid-orbit destruction of their Space Shuttle, and attempt to return to Earth.
How does it create a sense of genre?
The film is a Si-Fi/ Thriller genre and this shown as the trailer focuses on the disastrous scenario of the space shuttles destruction. The who film is based in space which greats a sense of Si-Fi, however, the thriller aspect comes from the constantly gripping and visceral scenario where the astronauts are trying to get back to earth after their ship is hit by space junk and rocks.
How does the trailer draw attention to the roles taken, particularly star talent?
After the beginning inter title there is a hard cut to an astronaut (Sandra Bullock) in a dangerous situation in space and this give an introduction to her character. the trailer shows her as the central character and uses close up shots of her face in the space suit to show her panic and to make the audience feel worried for her. While Sandra Bullock is trying to survive, the trailer introduces the other actor, George Clooney, but he is introduced with only his voice. This is unique and effective as it means the trailer can focus on the situation on screen and most audiences will instantly recognise the voice.
What essential narrative elements are explained in the inter-titles?
The trailer starts with an Inter title, tell the audience about space, as though it is giving the audience a warning before a hard cut to an astronaut (Sandra Bullock) in a dangerous situation in space. This inter title is important as it gives the audience an idea of how risky their mission is and the consequence of a mistake.
How does the trailer use dialogue?
the main dialogue that is used in the trailer is the commanding, instructive, as well as comforting dialogue from fellow astronaut (from George Clooney), to help the other astronaut to survive the emptiness of space. With his instructive dialogue the audiences are made to feel that he is somewhat in control. The trailer also uses dialogue from the panicked, terrified and uneased astronaut (Sandra Bullock).
What institutional information does the trailer contain, such as names of Production Company, talent, director, release date?
At the end of the trailer the title 'Gravity' is shown by a appearing on the brim of the earth horizon. Similarly with the release date and other credits about production companies and associated companies, they appear on the brim of earths horizon.
How does the trailer utilise accolades or other key hooks?
The film trailer is probably the most cost effective advertising technique available to the film distributor. When a trailer is being made it should reflect what the viewers might expect to see at the cinema, if they went to see this film. The trailer is usually made after the film is fully developed so that the trailer can show some of the main hooks of the film, which will create a 'want to see' attitude from the viewers. The trailer can give audiences a sense of genre, what the story is about, who is in the film and when it opens.
Trailers can be classified in many ways:
- The teaser trailer
- The full trailer
- The TV spot
- on-set bios or videos posted by the cast or crew
Trailer AnalysisPride and Prejudice and Zombies - the trailer is very effective because through the content, editing and sound, the trailer shows an interesting adaptation to the Novel 'Pride and Prejudice' that no one would have have thought to have done. Due to the reason that the film is based on a best selling Novel by Jane Austin, many history/ romance genre loving audiences are most likely to be attracted to the film. However, the film trailer highlights the film has zombies, so this shows the film also has horror, which will attracted those audiences as well. This shows that the trailer is grabbing the attention of a wide range of audiences. The trailer begins with orchestral music, showing the stereotypical women of that time period and it shifts to a survival against zombies, via a black out and narration about how the women in this story are going to have to change. This leads into an action pact sequence showing these women breaking the stereotype and are becoming strong independent women. This shows that the films main hook is the strong female figures, which grabs the attention of more female audiences. Furthermore, Lily James plays the main character in this film and the trailer mainly shows her throughout so audiences who like her in films will be drawn to see this different adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
In the Hear of the Sea - this trailer is effective in that through the use of sound and editing the trailer is shown as more cinematic and it creates tension throughout the trailer. The trailer begins with natural noises of the sea but when the whale comes towards the boat and the boat begins to break there is a build up to a climax, where at the crescendo, there is the start of a cinematic score in the trailer. This film is based on the book Moby Dick and this is a huge selling point for the film because it draws in myth and history audience, as well as adventure audiences. The hook of the film is how the men survived after they encountered Moby Dick. In the trailer many famous actors are shown, such as; Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy and Tom Holland. By having these famous faces be shown in the trailer, they attract in audiences who enjoy watching them. Furthermore, the incredible use of CGI for the whale and the sinking ship animates the exciting but sad story and as it is so realistic it makes audiences want to see the film. Alternatively, the use of sophisticated and clear inter-titles, audiences and see who directed the film and the audience is encouraged to the see the film through clear titles such as; 'comes one of the greatest true stories'.The 33 - this trailer is effective as through the use of sound and shots, it shows a true story of life or death for a group of miners in Chile, who were trapped in the mines with very little chance of escape. This heart-warming trailer makes the audience feel inspired and hopeful and it attracts audiences who relate to the film or have Spanish/ south american heritage. This film shows how the Chilean government did not act quick enough to prevent this incident and how the women of Chile felt the leadership in their government was not good. The hook is how the miner survived with very little supplies and light and how they showed unity in a time of crisis. This could be a metaphor to the audience to tell them to always work as a team rather than individuals in any struggle in life. The song, Say Something (I'm Giving Up On You), begins playing in the trailer when there is a news report about the incident. The use of this song is to create a sense of hope in a dark moment, not just for the people in the film, but for the audience too, so that they can connect with the film on a more emotional level. With the emotional and deep lyrics in the song, the audience is made to feel sympathetic for the miners and their families in the film, as well as in the world because this film is based on a true story. The film has only one major actor, Antonio Banderas, who plays the main character, which attracts his fan base to watch the film, whilst attracting other world wide audiences.
The Trailer Maker
On the FDA website, I took on the task of trailer making, which enabled me to use my creativity and i could understand how to pick out key selling points to show in the trailer. the trailer maker used clips from the 'Suffragettes' film trailer and i could change the sequence of clips to make it my own and i could add a score in the background. This task did not allow me to put transition in between clips, which made it difficult to make the trailer run smoothly, however, it was enjoyable to do. Here is my finished trailer for the task.
Your teaser trailer with its succession of opening murders rapidly establishes the threat of death to the young athlete who may be running his ‘last mile’. The repetition of the serial killer’s calling card builds a sense of foreboding. The heavy beats of the music emphasises the peril and drama which comes to a head with the terrifying attack by a masked assassin on the young runner, which the audience is led to believe is fatal because of the horrified reaction shot of the detective who has struggled to prevent further murders. The teaser trailer is appropriately fast-paced and action-packed; it encapsulates key characters (all engagingly young and attractive to appeal to audiences) and themes within 32 seconds, along with the release date, BBFC advisory certificate and film title. It signals the genre clearly through visual and sound codes, leaving the audience with a ‘hook’ in suspense, underlined in the intertitle.
ReplyDeleteMain Trailer All genre conventions are convincingly observed (BBFC advisory certificate, production company idents, release date, accolades from critics, institutional information, intertitles). The crime genre is clearly signalled through a series of murder victims and the enigma of the killer is launched effectively through the ‘calling cards’ left behind at the murder sites, which is used to build tension. The same visual codes appear on the website and poster, creating brand cohesion. Sound codes are effectively used in sophisticated layers (diegetic sound of dialogue offers information about the crimes and the detective; a pulsating, jarring soundtrack unnerves the viewer; diegetic sounds of owls, disturbed barking dogs). Casting is effectively handled with all the young, attractive actors engaging the audience’s sympathy and the killer disguised in a horrifying mask – stereotype tropes used to good effect here. Settings are well handled, especially considering the restrictions posed by the pandemic: startled deer in the park staring straight at the runner, lonely rain-washed streets at nights, the killer’s cabin in the woods
Effective camerawork includes the low angle shot from the victim’s POV up into the worried detective’s face, the transition created by the jacket thrown over the camera, the over-the-shoulder attack by the masked killer, the mid shots of the trapped victim and the horror of the final scene.
The trailer creates real fear and insecurity, unfolding the enigma and leading the audience to the point of suspense without resolving the tension.
Excellent, thorough research into film trailers, all beautifully documented.
ReplyDeleteYour teaser trailer with its succession of opening murders rapidly establishes the threat of death to the young athlete who may be running his ‘last mile’. The repetition of the serial killer’s calling card builds a sense of foreboding. The heavy beats of the music emphasises the peril and drama which comes to a head with the terrifying attack by a masked assassin on the young runner, which the audience is led to believe is fatal because of the horrified reaction shot of the detective who has struggled to prevent further murders. The teaser trailer is appropriately fast-paced and action-packed; it encapsulates key characters (all engagingly young and attractive to appeal to audiences) and themes within 32 seconds, along with the release date, BBFC advisory certificate and film title. It signals the genre clearly through visual and sound codes, leaving the audience with a ‘hook’ in suspense, underlined in the inter-title.