Research into genre specific Teaser Trailers: Thriller

The Darkest Hour (2012)

The trailer starts with two panning shots of Russia, Moscow. These panning shots give a good point of view on the captial, because it is empty people have left their cars on the motor ways and no one is walking through the usually heaving streets.

The music is non-diagetic but pounds whenever the shot change, this is to add emphasis on the severity of the situation. There is a diagetic sound of a dog barking...this usually hints to an audience that something bad is happening.


Unlike a normal horror, this is set in the day time...a new sort of killer that strikes at any time. This gives a slight unpredictability in the film which keeps the audience attached to the trailer.


The shot then changes to the barking dog, up til now we(the audience)
have no idea why the streets are empty or why there is no cars moving
and little to no sound other than this barking dog. The shot of the dog is
another long shot to show how open these spaces are and how empty
the city is.

After seeing this dog, we as an audience become very aware of why there is no one around. Why there is no one driving and why there is no sound!




The dog then instantly evaporates into nothing!
This would shock audiences and keep everyone
on the edge of their seat. How would you kill this?
This is a new type of killer. The music stops as the dog barks and then one loud bang accompanies the
evaporation.

There are then large shots of the earth at night and a narrative voice explaining what this invisible monster is here to do. These shots show the earth's power supply being taken by these balls of light. They are shown floating down from earth as beautiful flower-like energy balls ,however, they have a plan to come to earth and take everything.





The trailer concludes with more people evaporating
and a few characters trying to fight back. Once the
world has been shown the trailer starts to end. There
are a few shots of words asking the audience questions
however, in my opinion they give away that the people
in the trailer will make it through and fight back to the
more than likely "Armageddon".


I liked this trailer because it's very short and shows enough to not give away the ending or show you so much that you don't see the point of watching the film like some poor trailers do. I loved the short clips and very little amounts of dialogue. I always feel that if the there is too much dialogue it can give away too much of a film.


I would take away that non-diagetic music can be incredibly effective to showing the importance of a change of shot and make it seem more important than it is.

Woman in Black (2012)

The trailer starts with a dark room lit with candles, and a close up of a doll swinging round and round with a tune much like a wind up ballerina toy's box. This dark room tells the audience of the time period and how the rest of the film will follow. Very dark and gloomy, this darkness foreshadows a dark film and a scary ending.


This scene then continues with a rather scared ladies voice, then the lead character's (Daniel Radcliffe) son asks him not to leave. This clearly shows that they know this house is haunted and not a very safe place.

There are lots of close ups in the opening scene, this is a brilliant way of showing expressions and clearly getting them across to the audience.




The scene then moves onto a panning shot of a huge empty waste land, with a single road straight down the middle. This connotes that they are going into the middle of nowhere. It also shows how vulnerable Radcliffe is in this film and how he won't have any help.

This film uses very good transitions and fades out almost all shots into a split second of darkness, even early on you know this film is a dark and scary film. There are lots of very quick shots, with different angles and very small amounts of dialogue that gives huge impact with snippets of what this place is like. There are some good shots which give the feel of ~Daniel Radcliffe being watched.

These sorts of shots also give a feel that he is not very safe there because he is already being watched over before he steps foot in the house. It's almost like whoever was watching him was expecting him.


The faces of the other characters really do tell the story for you as a viewer, because they are all scared and don't seem to want to talk about it. However, what they do come out with is along the lines that "something terrible is going to happen." Their voice alone help the audience understand how serious this situation with the house is.


Once the drama is built the shots gets faster and more frantic, showing snippets of darkness mixed with pictures of creepy girls and a panting Daniel. This all helps the audience to see that this film is an action horror. It builds up to what could be a very interesting ending.

Just before a tiny bit of dialogue there is the iconic image of the chair moving on its own, then a narrative voice says "You've seen her haven't you" and then there is a close up of her on the chair and then a large bang of non diagetic sound ends the trailer.



I feel this is a good but also rather predictable trailer in that it's very obvious he will see her and very obvious she will jump out towards the end of the clip. However, they achieved what they would have set out to achieve by delivering a trailer that is scary but at the same time doesn't give away too much of the story and ruin the film. We still have no idea what happens to any of the characters we are still unaware of any danger caused. I really enjoyed this trailer because of how it is set out and how it keeps you drawn in and how the shots aren't ruined by too much dialogue and pointless images.

Hunger Games (2012)

The beginning of the teaser trailer sticks to the codes and conventions of any other teaser trailer. The beginning shows the traditional green screen certificate screen. This is a legal obligation by trailers so that they can be shown.

The first shot is a panning shot that sets the scene, it is obvious to the viewer that the setting is in the middle of nowhere in some woods. They could be anywhere and the connotations are of loneliness and vulnerability. We still don't know what characters are to be in the film but we can see where they are and what challenges they may face.

The next shot we have is of the main character, but we don't see the face or the gender of the character. All we see is the bow and arrow and a pair of legs. This gives nothing about the person away apart from the fact they have a bow and arrow. This is still keeping the audience in suspense because they have no idea what the film is about or what is going on. Who is this person? Why do they have a bow and arrow? And why are they in the woods? These are some of the questions that filled my head.

Next thing we see if the lead character is a girl and she is running from something(unknown) and the music pics up and the intensity and speed of shots increase drastically. This is around the 30 second mark about half way through the trailer. This gives the audience all the information that they need to get a general idea of what the film is about. The change of pace and shots are a good indication of what the film will be like and the general theme

Film Classification

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classifications) is an independent media content regulator, that labels film by its content to protect audiences for content that may be inappropriate to certain aged viewers.

The 'U' rating should be suitable for all, with a positive view throughout with scenes of possible violence being counteracted.

'PG' some scenes maybe unsuitable for young children, can be watched with guidance but not generally suitable for children to watch alone under the age of 8.

'12' or '12a' is suitable for people aged over this rating. Unless allowed by an adult and with their company you cannot view a film rated '12a' in the cinema as it is an age restriction to measure its content. It can be seen as the transition from primary to secondary school age. It can include moderate references to sex, language and violence.

The '15' rating allows an audience of 15 and over into the cinema or buy/rent a DVD. There can be frequent use of bad language and sexual scenes with strong detail. May be detailed references to violence but the act of violence can be strong but not showing prolonged pain or injury, not sadistic or sexualised violence.

'18' is for adults only, with no one younger permitted to view in the cinema or purchase an '18' rating.

"In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s public consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override the principle that adults should be free to choose their own entertainment. Exceptions are most likely in the following areas:

• where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence
• where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault
• where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. Such images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in ‘sex works’ (see below) would normally be confined to that category."

-British Board Of Film Classification

Reflection on learning from Film Magazines.

Through researching into several film magazines we have discovered some fundamental elements that we will need to consider when creating our own magazine. The colour scheme is very important in order to allow certain information to be clear when reading text as this will influence the reader into buying their magazine based upon the information it is likely to hold inside. We will need to decide this colour scheme using information within our movie, for example, if our genre was to be Horror is is fairly likely that red and black will be a pro dominant colours as it reflects upon the blood/gore and the dark. In the magazines we have looked at it seems that a separate photoshoot will be necessary to give a more detailed picture into the characters and the costume used in the film will need to correspond to allow continuity between magazine and film. Alternatively, we could focus the magazine upon the actor (director in some cases) within the film as a detailed insight into them and the making rather than a specific review of the movie as a production.

We will need to create an original name for our magazine but make sure that it connects to the visual and entertainment of film. This title will need to be able to be distributed in each issue. We should look more closely at the way 'Sight & Sound' was produced with more simplicity, as we do not have the higher budget of 'Empire' and 'Total Film'. We should also create some evidence to making a subscription to our magazine as this would be a positive step towards more sales.

Research Into Film Magazines

Total Film

• bold title font in block capitals, 'FILM' making it clear to the audience about the subject of the magazine. the text contrasts the image behind it in a single white colour but still integrated into the theme.
• portrait image of a male, the protagonist in the featured movie The Social Network. a collection of other peoples photos make up this characters face, reference to the expanse of people that make up Facebook which is what the storyline involves.
• this is a special edition cover, said to be 'exclusive' to subscribers, which could encourage people to start a subscription.
• date of issue in small text by title, not of high significance so kept discrete.
• slogan 'Get connected' to advertise the featured film with reference to the leader of Facebook in order to sell better
• combines 2 different media texts, both Internet and magazine.
• continuation of the white text against the background so not to overcrowd the cover but straight to the point to allow readers to spot text when on the shelves.
• tag line 'The Modern Guide to..' to show its an up to date magazine and an informative magazine, this continues in each of their issues.

• character featured central, full body view over lapping the 'FILM' text which stands out against the pink background. as she is a female character it is a clear link between her gender and colour choice.
• '3 covers to collect' makes the audience attracted to buying multiple magazines.
• white and lilac colour text against the pink background in order to show up clearly. the bold white text appears to be the most dominant text relevant to the reader.
• tag line continued throughout all 'Total Film' magazines, featured above the title.
• barcode shown in bottom left corner on order not to distract the reader. alongside 'Plus' to advertise joining a subscription which links to the previous cover that was limited to subscribers, with italicised text 'you' to draw and include the reader in its reference.

Empire

• simple and not over complicated front cover with solid plain colours, red yellow white and black (blue on the characters t-shirt).
• plain white background which allows the actor Ewan McGregor to be more pronounced and unlike the Harry Potter feature where they are surrounded by special effects. this reflects upon the British social realist genre of the movie Trainspotting.
• colloquial language 'in yer face!!' which corresponds with the Scottish dialect within the movie.
• text clearly surrounding the image with bold print to accentuate the topic then short statement underneath.
• cutout image of Sharon Stone which overlaps the bottom of the image of Ewan McGregor, to allow other features within the magazine to be noticed, attracted a varied audience.
• barcode is merged into the background making it hardly noticeable in the bottom right/slightly central.
• Empire text in a bold red colour, seen but doesnt intrude on the characters image. no tagline abover the magazine title, but abbreviated information on the contents of the magazine.

We have noticed that the majority of the 'Empire' magazine front covers seem to follow the action genre, with films that include alot of special effects and fantasy characters. The magazine uses very vivid/neon colours to attract readers and highly reflects the action genre with fire, electric and explosions in the theme. 'Empire' seems to be aimed more towards a male audience.

We asked a group of 16-25 year old male and females of their favourite movie genre and only 8% of women chose Action to be their favourite genre.

We also researched into what gender are more likely to buy a film magazine and we discovered that 30% of women would buy a film orientated magazine, with clear signs that women would be more likely to buy a fashion or 'gossip' magazine.

British Film Magazine

• red, yellow and white colour scheme, using block text surrounding the image.
• image of the character in the film 'This Must Be The Place', actor Sean Penn. not a commercial film to the wide audience but more specific to cult movie based upon a retired rock star.
• this British made magazine focuses on more cinematicly renown works that aren't as publicly known.
• title 'Sight & Sound' is shown in the top left corner and shown inside its on yellow rectangle to stand out against the background and image is underneath.
• likely to be on a lower budget than the other film magazines i have researched. though a far greater detail inside, by lack of advertising shown.
• text to the left is kept small with film titels in white and statments underneath in yellow.
• 'Every new film reviewed' reflects upon the intencity of its information inside. shown in a yellow circle.
• barcode is in top right hand corner, inside its own text box with the 'BFI' logo and date of issue, set out monthly.

Reflection on learning from Film Posters.

Through our research we have realised that film posters have several aspects, particular to the content of the film. Film posters are almost a trailer within themselves, they broadcast an immediate message to the audience of the genre and the content of the film. From film posters such as, "Hard Candy" there are many different connotations in this one poster. The girl in the bear trap gives away an obvious sense of danger and how she will come to a dangerous turn, red has always been a colour for danger. Red inside the bear trap is also familiar to blood after the prey has been caught. These connotations are all immediate signals to an audience that the character will experience danger. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out and this is why this poster is effective.

We decided to use colour as a main contributor to our film poster, because colour can evoke stronger feelings in a person than pictures can. Such as, black and red, these colours give the audience the sense that the film will be dark yet, a feeling of suspense and edging towards the thriller genre. We also made our poster very simplistic, in order to not give away any unnecessary details of the film. The use of emotion on the character's face also helps to give an impression of the role the character plays. This can be another useful tool in determining the genre of the film. These few techniques all play a large role in developing film genres and displaying the film to audiences.



From the film posters we have researched into there has also been some stereotypical layout factors that we should consider when producing our own film poster. The title of the film needs to be the boldest text, normally in a different font/colour to other text on the page and in majority it must be in capitalised font. Any other text on the page must not defer sight from a clear image which can sometimes be a still from the film or a posed image relating specifically to what the film will entail yet not giving away any crucial factors to the outcome of the film. The film posters include small faded font which shows the production making credits and key members in the making of the film; this is prodominately featured at the bottom centre of both landscape and portrait layout posters. Alongside the title it is seen in most film posters there is some sort of 'tagline' this gives a vague insight to the genre and plot of the movie, for instance, in '500 Days Of Summer' we have the tagline 'bot meets girl. boys falls in love. girl doesn't' that reflects upon the one sided romance that can compare with the male shown singularly on the poster. In our own film poster we should create our own snapshot to what the movie will consist of by using a statement to go along with the title.

Research into Film Posters

Submarine.

• main focus of the film poster is a young teenage boy, featured in either a uniform or a suit. Looks to be a 'coming of age' film, mixing the child with the adult through its costume.
• facial expression shows the character to appear 'lost' as eyes look up to something.
• character is shown half in blue tone, being submerged (links to the title of Submarine) underwater looking out of his depth.
• the boy is in focus while background is out of focus showing significance of the profile view of the protagonist.
• colour scheme - blue yellow red and white.
• text of the credits contrast against the background to make it visible. Colours of the title text Submarine is split into three parts, breaking the name down, showing his youth by using primary colours, to infuse the thought of him as a schoolboy.

Pineapple Express.

• three central characters, mismatch of costume showing a vague relationship between them, all carrying weapons to reveal signs of violence, however the expressions on their face and overall looks make them unsuited to violence.
• character (right) appears to be very happy with a very laid back attitude with gun held down, in pyjamas and messy long hair.
• reference to the marijuana culture, phrase 'put this in your pipe and smoke it' featured above the characters. Represents effects of smoke through expression and characters are seen immersed in the smoke.
• character (centre) appears slightly out of place in a beige suit, looks like he would be respectable with a job, newcomer to the group? shown as the protagonist as central between the other 2 people.
• neutral colour scheme with exception of red text which stands out, showing the date of release and Pineapple Express, against the haze of the grey.
• other bold text featuring other popular movies made by the same directors to attract the audience to the new movie.
• 'from the guys who...' informal language, audience and makers of the movie are reflected to be on the same wavelength and equal.

500 Days Of Summer.

• main protagonist shown looking down upon his  t-shirt, light hearted expression which reflects the type of genre of the movie.
• screen shots are captured and printed on the white t-shirt, like a time line of events within the titled '500 Days Of Summer' featured central on the poster.
• images indicate a romantic/comedy genre, bright lighting used in images, two characters one male one female, obvious relationship formed between the two.
• original thought of 'Summer' as the season in the year, but their are indications that Summer is the woman's name, not clear to audience but another possible meaning.
• the blue and white are the main visible colours, relating the sky to the colour of the title, connecting Summer to season.
• landscape layout rather than the typical portrait view, with quotes in the sky using white text against the sky.

One Day

• 2 characters pictured central, long shot of full body heights of a young couple. leaned in towards each other in a kiss, signals a romantic genre.
• the females face most visible signalling her love as stronger, she holds him more tightly with both arms, while he holds his back to the camera.
• low saturated colours, blues and off white. an aged photograph, looks like its yellowed over time. shows the aspect of time being prominent 'One Day'.
• title featured centrally on the characters mid-half, makes them look joined at the hip. she appears to be falling into him, reference to romantic 'falling in love'
• the young people are in full focus, the place is insignificant with no sense of place.
• credits at the bottom of the poster, merges in with the colour scheme, small text. 'One Day' font. Times New Roman which is very traditional and simple. there is no busyness in the poster making it overcrowded but kept simple with only them

Brighton Rock

• 3 characters featured, with two females either side of the male in centre, one female is seen looking towards the male, while the other seems to be running away from something.
• The male in centre shows him to be the dominant character but all closely linked as the