Researching Film Trailers
The Questions
1. What is the narrative of the feature film being advertised? What is the genre?2. How much of the narrative is revealed? How is this achieved? (Voice over/ shots)
3. What is the narrative order of the shots? How does it differ from the order in the movie?
4. How many shots are used?
5. What pace of editing is used? Does the pace increase/decrease at any time, if so when and why?
6. Are any specific transitions used that you wouldn't expect in the movie itself – wipes/fade to white/black etc. What effect do they have? Why do you think they have been used?
7. What does the voice over/text say? How does this link with the visuals? How does this set up the narrative of the film?
8. How does the soundtrack help create the genre and/or narrative?
9. What specific camera shots are used – when/where/why?
Researching film trailers
The Dark Knight Answers
1. The story which is being advertised is about a villain (joker) who is killing people and destroying the city and the hero (batman) must save everyone from the villain. Binary opposites is used where it is good VS evil, man VS evil and there is some sort of conflict going on here. By looking at the trailer, we can see that we are introduced by the evil and good as you are able to tell as there is soundtrack for the villain as he is showed and there are lots of blackouts. We can also tell by looking at his expressions, voice and what the villain is wearing. It is also the same for the hero as when they show the hero, we can tell as by looking at what he wears and the way he is talking and trying show that he is the hero of the movie. Propp is also used which means there is a certain type of character used in the movie and examples of this would be the hero, villain and the victim. The genre is action and thriller as there is a lot of action bits and this scares the audience with a thrill.
2. Only the main bits and important parts of the film are revealed and this was done by many short clips which were in non-chronological order, the bits were shown very fast and there was a voice over of the main characters before the visual is shown so then this would match what was on the screen.
3. The shots were not in order as they were quick and in this, you don’t see very much of the trailer as this starts of very slow but then becomes fast as it becomes more interesting and lots of more action is shown. It differs as you don’t get to see the very end or the start of the movie as they don’t you to see the plot.
4. There are only 40 shots in the trailer.
5. The trailer starts off very slow but gradually increases when they start to show the villain and this opposes a question.
6. There were transitions such as flashes, high pace fading and this is expected in an action thriller film as this makes it seem more interesting. This controls the audience and their emotions as it attracts them and this makes them feel like they are at the end of a seat and want to know what will happen next.
7. This starts with dialogue of main characters to show that there is a villain and a hero in the movie.
8. The soundtrack is fast throughout the whole trailer related to the genre and the voice over. The soundtrack sounds very electronic and stringy and very dark at certain times. The soundtrack and editing gets faster together to make it better for the audience.
9. There are many close ups in the trailer of the villain (joker) and his emotions and by this, we can tell that he is the evil one. This shot is done to thrill the audience and there are some shots of view which are the buildings which is called an aerial shot. There are location shots to show where the setting is and zoom is used to make the audience focus and draw their attention to know what is going on and what will happen.
Researching Film Trailers
The Woman In Black
1. The narrative is that there is a house that is haunted and the main character has to do something there, he faces lots of scary events and he has to be able to take the ghosts down. The house has a history to it and there are many pictures found inside the house which makes it mysterious. The people from the village are featured from it and lots of signs are shown to warn him. This revolves about children. The genre is horror and thriller. The music is scary and very fast pace and so is the location, darkness and the misty fog. There are lots of bits of the movie which make the audience jump as it becomes scarier and there are old fashioned toys used to show that the house is really old and makes it seem more interesting.
2. The end part of the trailer is left as we don’t really know why he is going to the house in the first place or the history of the house, the curse, the motive and what happens to the main character in the film. We are told in the trailer that he will be left all alone in the house and the truth is disturbed.
3. There are just shots of it shown when he is coming to the house and there isn't really an order of shots. The film in chronological and there are missed parts of important parts of the film.
4. There are 70 shots or more.
5. The trailer starts off very slow at the beginning to get the audience to have a feel of what the story will be about and shows some of the house so then the editing gets faster and the trailer gets faster and more frightening which gets hold of the audiences heart. There are also series of black used which show various images to show where he is going. This starts to create a mystery.
6. The transition is used to make the audience know what is going on and how this story starts and this is done through the voice over.
7. Daniel Radcliffe is the USP (unique selling point) and this makes it special for the movie as he is a very popular celebrity and this includes quotes off newspapers to make it seem more interesting.
8. There is a high pitched piano used to show mystery and there is also a basey sound which stops and some screeching sort of music starts which starts to build up the tension. There are many sounds of objects. The music has a lot of action and a rocking chair too. There is also a sound of religious singing which is done to show that there are dead people that have died and a lot of bass sounds which are done to show that the main character is scared and is running away.
9. There are many close ups such as the ones with close objects and faces to show the characters emotions but also to express the events which are happening during the movie. There is establishing shots included to show the loneliness of the character and the fearful events he must face.
