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
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