Trailer Research - Horror film trailers

Due to the fact that my questionnaire results show that the horror film genre is the most popular, I have decided to concentrate more on this area of film to make my research and planning more focused.

I watched the film trailers that were nominated within the horror/thriller genre for the golden trailer awards, and in my opinion, the trailer for Mama was the best of its category. I think that the use of jump cuts has been used very effectively to build suspense, and the use of lighting (or rather the effective use of darkness) throughout the trailer created the right atmosphere for a horror trailer. The music also plays a big part in why this trailer is good - the loud and deep booming music means that tension is built, and the quiet echoing and the children's whispering in the trailer gives it an eerie feel. The graphics and text in between the clips of films are also very effective - the black inky background for the text fits well with the dark theme of the theme.

There are several features that I would consider including in my own trailer. For example, in the Mama trailer, I quite liked the use of lighting. In some clips of the trailer, the only light present was the light from a torch, and the blue lighting created a cold feeling. I liked this as it helped set the scene for the horror theme. Also, on the trailer for Graceland, it starts off with a scene in a car, with a shallow focused shot of the driver. I really like interesting cinematography, and I think that here, the shot is so effective - when the focus turns to the character, we can really see the detail in his expression. I think this could be good in a horror trailer for maybe portraying the emotions of characters. 

Analysing my market research

A week after asking people to fill out my questionnaire, I looked at the results that I had gathered. As you can see from my results, people's view on trailers are very clear. When looking at which genre of film people preferred, horror was the most popular. This will be something that I consider when creating my own trailer, in order to strongly attract an audience. Also, when looking at the results of question 7 (What feature attracts you most to a film when watching a trailer ? ) 13 people chose a good story as the defining feature and 5 people said cinematography. Again, these are both things that I want to consider when filming my own trailer.  It was interesting to see everyone's reasoning behind their decision for this question too. I will have to think very carefully about my choices, and use this information to my advantage. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Mj0Xx4tD2NAgryYYVUg_Cb4lUrg53yWhqOn3Aelsths/viewanalytics

Analysing a film trailer - Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

After looking at the codes and conventions of the three films, I decided to analyse the Moonrise Kingdom trailer further. This film was released in 2012, and directed by Wes Anderson. As I mentioned before, it is of the 'Rites of Passage' genre. In this post I will discuss the use of codes and conventions used in the construction of this trailer.

It is clear from this trailer who the main characters are from within the first few seconds, as a scene from the film introduces a young boy (Sam) and the young girl (Suzy). As usual from trailers, no specific spoilers are given, but the plot is established - that the two run away together. This is a common convention of a trailer, to establish the main characters and plot. As well as introducing the two main characters, during the trailer, other smaller characters are introduced, through snippets of dialogue and scenes from the film. These characters are not developed, however, due to the fact that this film contains several well known actors, within the second half of the trailer, clips of the characters are accompanied by the names of the actors on screen. This is more of a common feature of a mainstream Hollywood  film trailer.

This trailer starts quite unusually with a scene from the film, with no music in the background, only the dialogue from characters. These clips of dialogue are consistent throughout the trailer, and they act like a voice over, letting the audience know what the characters plans are for the film and therefore a brief overview of the narrative. However, it does not give too much away - it still holds back enough to make the audience want to view the whole film.

Snippets of dialogue are very common in most film trailers and are used for this purpose. The 'snatches' of dialogue are joined by the accompanying scenes from the film, most of them portraying the most exciting moments. These are shown in many jump cuts towards the end, as it builds up with more dramatic music, creating a lot of suspense (known as 'the rise' of a trailer). At the end of the rise, the film title is displayed against a slow motion scene, which gives the audience a chance to read it before the trailer goes into the turn line - a point in which the music dies down for a single line of dialogue after the build up of music. Again, this is an extremely common feature among most film trailers.

As well as a list of the cast and the title of the film, the writers are also given credit. This is due to the fact that Wes Anderson is a well known film director and Roman Coppola is a well known film and music video director. This is a common convention when the names of the writers/ directors are famous. A lot of trailers usually have quotes from newspapers or magazines to promote the film, however in this trailer, this seems to be absent. This may be due to the famous cast and director, but it is still an anomaly for a film trailer.

Below is the official trailer for Moonrise Kingdom from YouTube.

This film is in the 'rites of passage' genre, and so I will not be looking at this for inspiration, however, I love the interesting cinematography components that are Wes Anderson's signature. I hope to feature interesting cinematography in my own trailer, to make it interesting and engaging for the audience to watch. 

Analysing a film trailer - the codes and conventions of a 'rites of passage' trailer

I decided to look at several trailers from the 'Rites of Passage' genre for the beginning of my research, until I receive the results of my questionnaire (which will help me to decide what genre I want to focus on). I looked at the trailers for the films 'Submarine' (2009), 'Moonrise Kingdom' (2012) and 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' (2012). I have added the links for each trailer below.

Due to the fact that these trailers are all of the same genre, they have many similarities when you consider their codes and conventions. In each of these trailers, the same types of characters crop up - the teenagers who are outcasts in society who just want to find acceptance. In Submarine, the character of Oliver Tate is the outsider, Charlie in The Perks of being a Wallflower and Sam and Suzy in Moonrise Kingdom. Obviously, these types of characters in the rites of passage genre are extremely common. 

As well as similar characters, trailers also have similar music. In the trailer for Submarine, two of the songs from the actual soundtrack by Alex Turner for the film is used (Stuck on the Puzzle and Piledriver Waltz). This is quite unusual and slower than the average blockbuster trailer music. Similarly, in the Moonrise Kingdom trailer, a French song by Françoise Hardy (le temps de l'amour) is used. Again, this is a slower song that would not usually be featured on a trailer for a blockbuster film. In the trailer for The Perks of being a Wallflower, the music is slightly different - the popular song 'It's Time' by Imagine Dragons is used, although this is still in the alternative music genre, and so is slightly similar to the other two. 

In the trailers for The Perks of being a Wallflower and Submarine, character voice overs are used (that are actually part of each film). These voice overs are used to give an insight into the plot of the film and the characters problems or own views. No voice overs in these trailers are from characters outside the films, even in the trailer for Moonrise Kingdom, the only voices that you can hear are from characters from the film.  In many film trailers, voice overs are used to narrate the quotes from newspapers and magazines - in these three trailers, voice overs are not used for this. 

Within the trailers, there are several creative ways of presenting the text and titles. In the Submarine trailer, the title of the film is left until the end, and is presented using colours that are actually important throughout the film, however, throughout the trailer, text is used to give structure to the images and clips on the screen and to introduce the protagonist (it actually says this in text, as this is relevant to the strange organised nature of the main character). This is similar in the Perks of being a Wallflower trailer, as text is again used to introduce characters and establish a vague storyline. In the Moonrise Kingdom trailer, text is actually used to give a cast list as the film features some very famous actors and actresses, which is different to the other two.

In all 3 trailers, a large variety of scenes are featured, especially in the Submarine and Moonrise Kingdom trailers. As well as this, a variety of interesting camera shots are used, again, mostly in the two I mentioned previously - the quirky features of both films are portrayed within the trailers, and the interesting cinematography is similar. 

The pace of the trailers all seem moderate, and not as quick as an action packed blockbuster (clearly this is due to the content of the rites of passage genre). The pace does change slightly, getting a little bit quicker towards the end, indicated by the change in music. As well as this, in all 3 there is a turn line, where the music dies as a character says a single line. This seems to be a connotation of film trailers in general. 

Many films from this genre are quite quirky and unusual (as the films usually feature an outcast which is unusual themselves), and due to this, it is easy to spot the common traits of these trailers. Below are the links to the 3 trailers I have analysed. 

Submarine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUT4GtS9_ns

Moonrise Kingdom - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N8wkVA4_8s

The Perks of being a Wallflower - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5rh7O4IDc0

Film Trailer Questionnaire

As part of my planning and research, I created a questionnaire to try to help me with ideas for my final products. Below is the link for the form, please fill it out if you have time, thank you.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Mj0Xx4tD2NAgryYYVUg_Cb4lUrg53yWhqOn3Aelsths/viewform

Main genres of Hollywood films

Monster in the House

A 'monster in the house' type film plot consists of literally a 'monster' (something which the protagonists must escape from) and a 'house' (a confined area in which the whole story takes place). The characters are usually threatened in some way by the monster, meaning they have to kill it, or hide from it throughout the film. A 'sin' is also usually created, which provokes the monster in some way (for example, in Jurassic Park, the greed of the park owners led to the creation of the dinosaurs, which, by nature, are a danger to the human characters). There are many famous examples of this genre such as Alien, Jaws and The Exorcist, but a more recent examples would be the Paranormal Activity films (the fourth recently released in October 2012), where the ghosts terrorize the families from within their own homes.

Golden Fleece

This genre is named after the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and his quest for the golden fleece - in these films, the hero goes 'on the road' searching for something, but usually discovers more than that - they 'discover themselves'. Older examples include The Wizard of Oz and even Star Wars, however newer films in this genre could be The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, released in December 2012.

Out of the Bottle

In this genre of film, the plot usually follows the structure that the hero of the story is almost similar to that of Cinderella - the audience wants the hero to find happiness, however, in the end the character must learn that the 'magic' that caused his happiness isn't everything and that is better to be like us (the members of the audience). A good moral is normally included at the end. Older 'out of the bottle' style films include Bruce Almighty and Liar, Liar.

Dude with a Problem

These type of films start off with an average man who finds himself in 'extraordinary circumstances', whether it be rescuing his wife from bad guys, or rescuing a huge group of people from a natural disaster. Most of the time, the main character has to overcome a personal issue to conquer the bad guys and triumphs over evil. Examples include things like Die Hard and even Schindler's List and Titanic, but more recent examples could be Taken (2008) and Taken 2 released in October 2012.

Rites of Passage

Films in the genre Rites of Passage are basically about the changes and transitions in life such as going through puberty or a mid-life crisis. Usually the transition presents a problem (such as old age, grievances or a romantic break-up) that the main character must battle, almost like an unseen monster. The experiences or circumstances that the characters find themselves in tend to be very relatable, which means that many of the audience will have actually gone through similar experiences themselves. They tend to be either dramas or comedies, with examples including films like Napoleon Dynamite, Bridesmaids, Submarine (directed by Richard Ayoade, released in 2010) and more recently Moonrise Kingdom (directed by Wes Anderson, released in May 2012).

Buddy Love

Buddy Love films are typically centred around 2 characters and the problems they face together. These problems usually bring them closer together and they realise that they can't live as well without each other. These films are not just about 'buddy' love, they also include romantic love such as in the Twilight Saga (which spanned over the years 2008 - 2012, the most recent film Breaking Dawn: Part 2 released in November 2012) and even love including animals, pets or even fantasy creatures such as Free Willy, E.T and even Paul (released in March 2011).

Whydunit

In  these films, the focus of the story is more why the bad guy committed the evil deed instead of who did it - it is not about the characters discovering themselves, it' about the audience discovering the evil reason why the bad guy did his evil doing (the audience are almost like the detectives). There are many extremely famous 'Whydunit' type films such as Blade Runner, Seven, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Sixth Sense.

The Fool Triumphant

In these type of films, the main character is usually an underdog who other characters see as so unequipped for life that they discard his chances of success (this doubt extends to the audience too). Throughout the film, we see the character seems to grow in his ability to succeed, and by the end of the film, despite the odds against them, they triumph at their goals. Some examples include Forrest Gump, School of Rock, Elf .

Institutionalised 

Films under this genre always contains a group of characters (for example a family unit or a group of colleagues), and the story usually unfolds to either honour the institution or present the problems of being lost when being a part of it. The pros and cons of putting the group ahead of ourselves are also developed throughout the film. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is a very famous institutionalised film, as well as The Godfather films and The Shawshank Redemption. Even Disney's Pocahontas and Avatar come under this genre. 

Superhero

This genre is actually the direct opposite of the 'Dude with a Problem' genre - an extraordinary person finds themselves in an ordinary world. It usually means that the audience has sympathy for this character, for they are usually misunderstood. The character has to deal with those who are jealous of his abilities, and those who do not understand his mind or his point of view. The point of identification from the audience can usually only come from them sympathising for him for being misunderstood - the audience normally never fully understand the main character. The obvious films under this genre are the typical marvel heroes such as Batman and Spider man, films such as Dracula and Frankenstein, but also films like Gladiator and the X-men series ( a new film in the series, The Wolverine, is set for release in cinemas later this year in July). 

Codes and Conventions of Film Trailers

All film trailers that are released follow certain codes and conventions which mean that they are easily recognised. 

There are many obvious features of a trailer, which would include things such as the ident which  usually shows the production company logo. This can give you an idea of what the film will actually be like - if the production company is Warner Bros. for example, we know that it will have a huge budget and may have very well known actors playing the main roles. 

Another obvious feature of a film trailer is the actual title of the film that it is advertising. This is clearly a necessity, as if it wasn't a convention of a trailer, we wouldn't be able to identify the film if we wanted to go and see it in the cinema. The font and colouring of the font also gives us an indication of the genre of the film, and will usually be closely linked to the title font/ colouring within the advertising campaign. 

During the trailer, a normal convention is the introduction of characters. Closely linked to Blumler and Katz' 'uses and gratifications' theory, one of the reasons we are consumers of media is that as an audience we like to identify with characters within films and TV programmes. The establishment of the characters is important because of this.

Also, as well as the introduction of characters, if the actors/ actresses who play these characters are well known and famous, their names may be included as captions underneath. This may help to sell the film as many people may go to see a film with their favourite actor/ actress in it, even before they know the plot of the story. Not only the actors/ actresses can have their names featured on the trailer - the director's name can also be an important selling point for the film. Several directors have a large fan base around their work, which means that as with the attraction of famous actors, the director could be a factor which may drive people to go and see the film. There are huge lists of directors with large fan bases, directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Ridley Scott, and Tim Burton could be included. Directors like these often have a very stylised way of directing, which means that it could be an indicator of what the film will be like/ look like/ what actors will be in it (for example, in films directed by Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are almost certainly going to be featured, and Wes Anderson directed films almost definitely feature Bill Murray in some way, and may include actors such as Owen/ Luke Wilson,  Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston, Adrien Brody and other actors that he usually works with).

As well as the visuals, the soundtrack of the trailer is an important convention of a trailer. All trailers have some sort of sound accompanying the clips of film, whether this be a music track, dialogue or a voice over (or often all 3). The soundtrack to a trailer can help set the tone of the film - if there is a music track that sound happy, the chances are that the film will not be a horror, similarly if the soundtrack of the trailer features screams and high pitched violin screeches then it is very unlikely that the film will be a family feature. Voice overs are used to guide the audience through the initial plot of the film, whether this is the voice of a character in the film or an external voice usually depends on the film/ type of trailer that it is used on.

The release date is also common on film trailers, which allows people viewing the trailer to have an idea of when they are able to see the film in the cinema (which is obviously the key reason behind trailers - to entice the viewers to go and see the film to get money and without a release date, the viewers would not have any idea of when they'd be able to go and see it).  

Trailer Terminology and Definition

Definition
Trailers are used to advertise a film and are made up of shots from the film itself (usually the most exciting/ funny/ noteworthy clips). They usually do not include spoilers, and the scenes from the film do not necessarily have to follow the order that they appear in the film. Trailers are usually under two and a half minutes (this is the maximum length a trailer can be - usually only one extended trailer from each film studio a year) and some even include 'special footage' (such as the famous trailer for Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho').

Plot summary

Most trailers follow a three-act structure, similar to the structure of a film with a beginning that lays out the premise of the story, a middle act which usually ends with a dramatic climax and a third act, which features a piece of 'signature music', which sometimes can include a montage of powerful clips of the film or a cast run (if there are noteworthy stars).

Voice-over

A voice-over narration is also used to set up the premise of the story or even provide an explanation for certain parts of the trailer. This can be used to develop the audience's understanding of the plot of the film.

Music

Music is usually an important part of setting the mood of the trailer and does not usually have to from the actual film score. It may be music from other movies, popular music, specially composed music, 'library music' (previously composed by an independent composer) or even songs that are similar to originals which may be too expensive to license.

Cast, crew and studio information
Usually within there is a cast run of the list of stars that appear in the movie, and also the director if he is well known. Also, most trailers include a billing block at the end. This is a list of the cast and crew and this list appears on posters, publicity materials and usually on screen at the beginning or end of the film. As well as the billing block and cast run, studio production logos are featured in trailers (usually placed at the beginning, since the 1970s). There are often logos for the production company and the distributor of  the film.

Technical elements
Sound mix: most movie trailers are presented in Dolby Digital or another multichannel sound mix. Stereophonic sound enhances any sound effects or music, which makes it one of the focus pints of modern trailers. 
Video resolution: trailers are usually presented in the same format as the actual film, whether it is in 35mm film or digital format. Improvements in internet connection means that many trailers can be distributed at resolutions up to 1080p HD quality. 

The History of Trailers

In November 1913, the first ever trailer was shown for the film The Pleasure Seekers and ever since then, trailers have been developing and changing into what we are familiar with today.

We can see how different trailers used to be by looking at Snow White (1937), the Disney animation, for which the trailer is shown above. Straight away we notice how the trailer begins with text, 'The show thrill of your lifetime... Nothing ever like it!.. In multiple technicolour!'. The use of superlatives throughout this trailer, (in text as well as the voice over) is a characteristic of the earliest trailers. As well as this, no actual footage of the film is shown, which would be considered unheard of in any modern trailer. Another unusual characteristic of this trailer is the clip of Walt Disney himself in the middle of the trailer, explaining who the characters are. Introducing the main characters is an important part of every trailer, however this manor of doing so is very unusual, and is only found in older trailers such as this one. Even jumping 2 years to 1939, the trailer for Gone with the Wind had developed quite a bit since Snow White. This trailer starts off very similar to the Disney one, with text using superlatives like 'The most memorable event in the age of motion pictures', however, it moves on straight into listing the cast of the main characters and who their characters are. This is clearly a lot different than Snow White - the director has not introduced them here. Also, in contrast to Snow White, the entire trailer is made up of clips of film.

Skipping just over 20 years, we see that certain trailers started to become extremely experimental. The trailer for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho still stands as one of the most famous and unusual trailers of the 20th century (shown above). In this trailer, we are escorted around the infamous motel in which the story of Psycho takes places by Alfred Hitchcock himself. It is unusually long at 6 and a half minutes, and the scene at the end, where the curtain is pulled back and the girl screams is very famous. Here, we get a taste of the genre of the film (which we weren't entirely sure of previously). The title shown at the end is also quite revolutionary, as previously, we had seen the title of the film at the beginning - leaving it until the end almost creates a sense of mystery. 

Another example of experimental trailers in the 60s, is the trailer for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964). The extremely quick jump cuts means that this trailer has around 136 cuts per minute, and the large amount of text included in this trailer is more uncharacteristic for a trailer of the 60s. It is also unusual, as the text is usually filled in by dialogue from the film of certain characters. This is a technique that had never been done before, and it still stands as a very experimental development in trailers. 

In 1977, another inspirational trailer was created for the first Star Wars film. The special effects were considered very ahead of its time, as they played a very major role throughout the film. There is still a loud voice over for this trailer, which was still quite common, and there are still a lot of clips from the film, usually show casing the special effects. A screen shot of the trailer is shown above. 

 

Over the next decade, trailers developed more in terms of sound and visuals - soundtracks to trailers started to include licensed songs and special effects had improved greatly. By 1996, Titanic was released. This showed just how far technology had come. The trailer for the film A Night to Remember (1958) which is also about the sinking of the Titanic, shows a lot of primitive special effects, and also features a loud voice over, and clips of the black and white film. This is greatly contrasted by the 1996 film trailer, with the good CGI, and full colour. The images above show the difference in the special effects used for each film and trailer - 'A Night to Remember' featured a hand made model of the ship, where 'Titanic' featured a ship created using CGI. Also, in contrast with the Disney version of Snow White, the trailer for Snow White and the Huntsman released in 2012 shows much improved CGI (in fact most of the trailer relies on CGI) and the jumps cuts within it oppose the slow transitions of the 1937 trailer. The theatrical trailer is shown below, and the differences are made clear. 

Overall, throughout the past century, trailers have developed significantly (along with film itself), and the progression of the trailers has even led to their own awards ceremony - the Golden Trailer Awards, which are presented each year for the best trailers. 

Summary of A2 coursework brief

For my A2 media course, I will create a film trailer, and also two ancillary projects; a poster for the film and the front cover of a film magazine featuring the film that I created the trailer and poster for. I will include my own research and planning, and will be using this blog to document this, along with my final products and evaluations. For the completion of the trailer, I will be working with my friend, Ashleigh Foy. We will work together for the filming and editing of the trailer, but will be independent when producing the poster and magazine cover.