My chosen film genre was dramatic thriller, as I think it has the biggest scope for film adverts. The aim of a thriller is to keep an audience captivated so common themes associated with thrillers include action with no obvious outcome, to which audiences will want to know the concluding result. A drama is a series of events having vivid, striking or emotional results, so usually a drama is slower paced, and the audience get closer to the protagonist, build a bond with them and learn about whom their character is, while the narrative is much more of a story rather than a series of events.
The character types seen in this genre are more often people who are able to really play a role, show their feelings through their character, but at the same time, be able to keep the audience guessing and want to get to know their real personality. A drama character is often the example of ‘playing a role’ because they are players portraying a story, but thriller character types are more often brash and/or terrifying.
In terms of adverts for this type of film, if the film includes a voice over, the voice over is often the voice of one of the main characters in the film, with extracts from their dialogue within the script, or a carefully written monologue to be overlaid on top of film clips, depicting significant events within the film. This is a method often associated with action films and is used in the film advert for ‘inception’. Inception also uses text on the screen to explain narrative. The director might also use sound bridges which tell the story but show different scenes, before finally ending up at the ongoing scene from which the sound comes. This tactic is used in the trailer for ‘Sarah’s key.’ Alternatively, film directors can choose to not have any voice over in their advert, and let the narrative do the talking. This is shown extremely well in ‘the ides of March’, a film starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, about a presidential campaign.
Dramatic features used in the trailer for ‘salt’ is her transition from good guy to criminal on the run, while still trying to protest her innocence. A viewer would want to watch the film to find out whether she was telling the truth, and if not, would she succeed in killing the president or would she be caught. There is a build up in tension as she gets accused by the accused, and then as she’s on the run, there are shots of her on CCTV monitors to emphasise the fact that she is now thought of as a criminal. Dramatic features with the trailer for ‘sarah’s key’ derive from the fact that the film is set both during the Second World War, and today. So there is a lot of the story being told by the teacher, then the events being shown on film, which makes the film seem even more lifelike. The pivotal point in the trailer, and the stage at which people would decide whether or not they would go and watch the film is when she says ‘I’m sure they escaped’ because it is here that we realise the film will be about an attempted escape.
Music is an extremely powerful tool in creating atmosphere in film. The music in inception, being of a large orchestral score, builds rhythm through the use of percussion instruments; it starts uncomplicatedly with a solo instrument playing a percussive rhythm and speeds and builds up with more and more layers to become full orchestra when the main action scenes are being shown in the trailer. The music in the film trailer for ‘Sarah’s key’ is very different to that of inception; it is slower paced and has many fewer layers. This is often seen in dramas as it puts the audience in more of a relaxed and emotional mood, and also gives them an idea as to the mood of the film. The music in the salt trailer is much faster paced than both inception and sarah’s key, as it is more toward the action genre. The music in the ides of march is reminiscent of the film itself, a film about big men doing big things and the music builds up to a fast paced tempo to show this.
I especially like the dramatic effects used in Sarah’s key, because they really show well the actions of the war, and how they are interpreted today
The use of titles is widely used, so that they do not have to pack the advert full of voiceovers when they could be playing sound from the film. For this genre, usually they are in the middle of the frame, in plain font as can be seen in inception.
Inception
1) What cinematic techniques are used to establish mood and tone?
The first 30 odd seconds show scenes from the film without any explanation, and we get many people’s perspectives on what’s going on, yet still we don’t know; there is the air of mystery.
2) How does the trailer establish the themes and narrative?
It establishes the themes that are normal for the action genre, by showing explosions and vast buildings moving. Also, from 37 seconds onwards, there is a gun or some sort of destruction in almost every scene, which really outlines the genre. In terms of establishing the narrative, there is a voice over, spoken by the main character, giving his character’s view on the film, which then affects the storyline. There are also titles on the screen that give facts that would be useful in understanding the film It slightly shows what each character’s role is in the film, yet in so much detail that we can really only tell whether they are a protagonist or baddie.
3) How does the trailer establish genre?
The trailer establishes itself as an action thriller by showing action scenes and dramatic music right from the start. It also shows that the film has an air of mystery by starting the advert off with a question. The film’s dramatic side is shown by presenting the two main characters at the beginning.
4) Who is the target audience and how is this audience targeted in this trailer?
The target audience would be the core audience, 16-24 year olds, as well as people who like the sort of film like 2021, and this is shown by them using as many similar scenes as they can in the advert, to show this latter group of people that this is a film that they would want to watch.
5) What is the reason/ effect for using the director's name and previous work?
The reason that they show the director’s name is that people will recognise him as having created extremely successful films, and if they went to see it they will remember that they enjoyed his film. The effect is that then people will expect his new film to be of equally good quality, which will result in higher numbers at the box office, so then more money.
Salt
1) How does this trailer promote and focus on the big star? (look at camera work, editing, sound...etc..)
The big star, Angelina Jolie, is in almost every single shot, which shows off to a viewer that she is important, and makes them watch her closely, which is made easier by that fact that they have deliberately chosen someone who is thought of by many as being extremely attractive. There are lots of close up shots of her face, in different positions to show an all round perspective.
2) Action films are thought to appeal to a predominately male audience. How does this trailer target both a female and male audience separately?
Regarding attracting female audiences, she is shown in a position of power and importance in her workplace, which some would see as her being a pioneer, also it is not always that there is a female action hero in a film, so where women might be tired of seeing men always starring in the action genre, having a woman have the lead role would target the female audiences. Male audiences would be attracted by the action genre, but also because of the hero being very pleasing to the eye.
3) How does this trailer use editing to create atmosphere?
The trailer uses editing at the beginning to piece together- using clips from the film- the entire storyline in the interrogation room, to show the audience the build up to the more active part of the film, which leads to excitement. When she is on the run, the short shots and quick cuts result in tension. The different shots from CCTV images make the audience think that she cant get away but then they show her jumping onto a lorry so immediately there is a feeling of excitement. The confusion that arises in the minds of the viewers means that people will be more inclined to go and see it so that questions they have may be answered.
The ides of march
Common themes- good vs. evil
Young vs. old
Love
betrayal
Character types- Older powerful man
Young man making difference
Beautiful woman- distraction
General to genre- protagonist
Sidekick
Loved one
Enemy of sorts
Narrative conveyed with soundbridges and soundbites
Music used to build up image of characters and therefore the film.
Sarah’s key
Common themes- war
Discrimination
Young vs. old
Old stories ‘the past holds the key’
True story
From a book
Family- loyalty
Character types- innocent children
bad person/organisation
person finding themselves able to relate
family
university lecturer/ historian
music used to create sense of adventure
no country for old men
common themes- crime
combat
violence
good vs. evil
confusion
different cultures
old fashioned
character types- main villain
victim
police protagonist sherrif
young unsuspecting girl
I like the panoramic shots of settings
Quick cutting at the end, everything speeds up- closing in
Titles- in the middle
Bold
Corageous
Common themes- family
Love
Loyalty
crime
Things get worse to get better
Good wins
Character types- (useless) father figures
Children
Villains
Heroes
Dramatic feature of this trailer is the fact that they’re good policemen but at home they’re nowhere near as good at being fathers as they are at their job.
Narrative conveyed using text and sound bridges
Titles- centre of screen on background of police badge
JT
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