Film Promotion - Thriller

Shahriar Khan

The main elements that a thriller film must contain are suspense, tension and excitement. Psychological, action, political and paranoid thrillers are some of the subgenres that exist within the genre.

Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods through the use of many techniques. These include a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, suspense, excitement, tension and terror. Literary devices such as red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively. The cover-up of important information from the viewer and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although each subgenre has its own characteristics and methods.

Our group decided that our film promotion campaign would be based on a thriller film. All major films have some sort of promotional strategy in place before the film is released, as it builds excitement for the audience to go and watch the film.

Trailers – Trailers – A trailer is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema or advert before the screening of a film. As the purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience to the film, the excerpts shown are usually drawn from the most exciting and noteworthy parts of the film but in an abbreviated form and usually without producing spoilers.

Trailers tell the story of a movie in a highly condensed fashion that must have maximum appeal. In the decades since movie marketing has become a large industry, trailers have become highly polished pieces of advertising, able to present even poor movies in an attractive light.

Most trailers start with a beginning that lays out the premise of the story. The middle drives the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax. Act 3 usually features a strong piece of "signature music" (either a recognisable song or a powerful orchestral piece). This last act often consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments of the film and may also contain a cast run if there are noteworthy stars that could help sell the movie.

‘Inception’ (2010) is an example of a successful psychological thriller film which had a strong promotional strategy in place.

‘‘Inception’ trailerInception’ trailerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM&feature=player_embedded#!

The Inception Trailer starts like all movies start, with a green screen that approves that the preview is for appropriate audiences. The green background is a connotation that its safe to watch for children as it does not contain any harmful images, violence or bad language.

We see the three titles turning into 3 dimensional platforms of cities with skyscrapers , and then camera flows through the middle of Warner Bros and the towers and then fades away to the opening trailer shot. This introduction gives it a sense the audience is being let into a stealthy and cautious film.

The first character is then presented to us with an opening line of “there's one thing you should know about me” where the character is introducing himself to the audience. The narration is matched to the action as he is in a suit loading a gun and says “a very specific type of security” which gives the audience a first impression about the character. This sets the foundation of a grand narrative, which a trailer should do.

As with any film and trailer, the main cast and production teams’ names are shown to the audience, as a big attraction of a film is the cast and director. Leonardo Di Caprio is an Oscar winning actor, and Christopher Nolan is a well known, successful director. They both have huge followings, which means by mentioning their names in the trailer, it will automatically attract their fans.

Key lines from the movie are used as a voiceover, although in some parts the scene where that specific line is taken from is not shown. An increasing amount of trailers are doing this, and this is an effective tool of establishing a narrative and the genre of the movie. Characterisation also occurs through the voiceover.

The remaining shots are shots of explosions along with fast paced music, which tell the audience what to expect when they watch the film. This specific trailer of ‘Inception’ is extremely effective in creating a narrative and establishing the genre.

Text slanted in, words collapse around him. Represents the plot of film.

He’s the centre of the cover, main character.

Distorted background-skyscrapers distort into fragmented glass, sci-fi feel to it.

“Movie of 2010” builds suspense, makes us want to watch it.

Background presents time as rushing by, correlation with films main plot

‘Inception’ is central, huge red letters, cannot miss it.

“Matrix meets 007” – tells us the main theme

The website of ‘Inception’ furthers the interest in the film. Links to buy the film on Blu-Ray, DVD, iTunes and to download it are available at the top.

‘Assemble Your Team’ enables interactivity between audience and film characters

Before entering the main site, the viewer must watch the trailer, and the music ominous with the film can be heard. This creates the effect of the viewer beingpart of the film