Assignment 2: Summary Of Research Of Trailers

DRAFT 2Courtney Buabeng

Thrillers

Student Trailers

Timing

The different types of trailers are:• Teaser trailers – Shorter than 1 and a

half minutes and are generally fast pace and full of tension.

• Video/DVD trailers – Shown for roughly 2 minutes before the starting of a DVD and are usually the same genre as the film about to play.

• Theatrical trailers – Usually last a maximum of 3 minutes to shown key parts of the film but not reveal too much.

Company Logos

• The production companies name/logo is usually shown toward the beginning of the trailer. It allows the audience to identify who made the film.

‘Revenants’

‘Side Effects – 2013’

BBFC Age Rating

• The BBFC rating may be shown in trailers for the audience to be aware of which age groups are able to watch the contents of the film.

• As trailers are shown on a wide variety of platforms, certain trailers will be shown before watershed to prevent young children from seeing inappropriate scenes. ‘Vendetta’

Release Date

• The release date ensures the date in which the film will be out or how far it will be until it is out. For example – “Coming Soon.”

• It usually shown toward the end of the trailer to ensure the audience have seen it and are more likely to remember the date of its release.

‘Shadow People – 2013’

Titles

• Thriller trailers often use titles as substitutes for voiceovers.

• The title of the film is usually shown at the very beginning or toward the end of the film, allowing the audience to remember the name of the film to create buzz about it.

• They are usually placed on plain backgrounds to avoid any distracting of the key words.

‘Side Effects -2013’

‘Shadow People -2013’

Social Media• The social media credits are

conventions of recent films and are usually shown at the end of the trailer and last about 3-5 seconds for audience to read and remember.

• Their purpose is for the audience to search more information about the film of social networking sites and to share things about the film, as a way of promoting the film.

• Critics are also a way of endorsing the film, making it more intriguing for the audience.

‘Frozen Ground – 2013’

‘Getaway’

‘Vendetta’

Characters

• Many trailers focus on their main character(s) as a way of promoting the film. It is a unique selling point and below the line advertising which attracts fan bases of the actor/actress.

‘Side Effects -2013’

‘Would You Rather – 2013’

Narrative Structure

• Most of the theatrical trailers have an order in which the events of the film are shown. There is the ‘Equilibrium’ and then the ‘Disequilibrium.’

• This same structure applies to the thriller genre. The equilibrium is shown to establish the beginning of the film where the tension is not yet built.

• The new equilibrium is never shown because it creates enigma and pushes the audience to watch the film.

FROZEN GROUND:

Equilibrium: The detective is about his daily life.

Disequilibrium: The FBI suspect the baker and find weapons in his home.

Enigma: Who killed her?

ALL GOOD THINGS:

Equilibrium: They are normal, happy couple. Disequilibrium: The wife begins to question her husbands behaviour and she is found dead.

Enigma: Is he her killer?

Audio

• The score music within a thriller is usually tense and deep. It establishes what genre the film is and hints to the audience what will occur. The non diegetic music correspond with the pace of the editing, so at the most climatic point of the trailer, the score music will become more tense.

• Also, in a thriller, if there is any use of voiceovers, the voices are always deep and have a mysterious tone to it.

• The volume control of both the score music and sound effects will increase at the pivotal parts of the trailer to create tension.

Pace/Editing

• The editing pace is generally a normal pace at begin and picks up a much faster pace after the dilemma has been revealed.

• This also applies to pace of editing in a thriller trailer.

‘Shutter Island – 2009’

Inspiration

• From the official and student trailers I have watched, the titles/credits are inspirational as they mirror what genre the film is through their font and colour.

• The audio synchronises with the pace of the editing, which has inspired me as the meaning of the editing and music signifies tension building.

• Lastly, the use of social media has inspired me as it is below the line advertising and is a cheaper, more effective way of advertising a film.