Trailer Influences

Trailer Influences

To inspire our own trailer ideas, we decided to watch some trailers in the area we were interested: teenage survival. 

The Hunger Games:

The first long shot begins with the main protagonist: Katniss. This instantly tells the audience that Katniss is an important character as she is introduced straight away. As the clip progresses, Katniss shares dialogue between Gale. Quick reverse shots are used as Katniss and Gale share hints towards a problem to the audience: 'they would catch us' and 'we wouldn't make it five miles'. Hand held shots are soon used after this, representing urgency and panic, implying that their problematic dialogue is now becoming a reality. We liked the idea of hand-held shots as it suggests problems and can even give a point of view shot.

Then, as the audience question what the problem is, the institution logo is shown. This is cleverly used as the demographic will want to watch on so they will take into account the logo without it putting them off. After this, reaction shots and close-ups are used to represent the emotional state of the characters. This helps the audience to create an attachment with the characters and allows the characters/film to appear realistic.The trailer then switches to a two shot of Katniss and Prim hugging, showing relationships and a family bond. Katniss' dialogue is then carried as a narration through to the picking of the tributes, hinting that herself or Prim may be picked. When the tributes names are being pulled from the glass bowl, extreme close-ups and close-ups focus on the paper. This suggests to the audience that this is going to be an important part within the film and that it may cause a problem. We liked the idea of having a focus on a n object to signify a problem, theroefore, we wanted to use this idea within our own trailer.The mise-en-scene worked nicely within the trailer. The clothing, towards the beginning consisted of white and blue. These could sugegst innoncence and purity to show the personality of the charcaters. However, the clothing did not seem elegant or expensive, suggesting that Katnis may be from a poor background and that the film maybe target the idea of class and status/political issues. Moreover, as the trailer progresses, Katniss' clothing changes to red. This then suggests that she could be faced with danger, love, lust and death/blood as the colour red connotates these ideas. Dramatic dialogue is sued through close-ups of the characters. Katniss says, "There is twenty four of us Gale and only one comes out." This builds up suspense and hints towards violence. The demographic will question whether Katniss can survive or not. The trailer then uses copy to interest a wider audience. It states, 'from the best selling epic novels", promoting the books as well as engaging the people who have already read the books. As the pace quickened, quick cuts were used to keep the trailer moving. This is effective as it helps to keep the audience 'on the edge of their seat'. Throughout the trailer, violence is hinted at. Weaponry such as a bow and arrow and swords are used, however, they are not used on humans. By showing violence on 'practice dummies', the trailer hints towards violence without being graphic, enabling a wider audience to see it and keeping the audience intrigued as to what may happen in the actual film. Symbolism and iconography are used on a close-up of the mockingjay pin. People who have read the book will understand the reasoning of this, unlike others. This makes the readers feel included so they will want to see the film and it will also intrigue the other audience. At the end of the trailer, a countdown is used. We liked this idea as it creates a sense of urgency and panic, causing the demographic to want to see what happens next in the film. The whistle at the end adds a nice touch as it sounds like birds whistling as it calms everything down after the fast paced ending. Next, the tile appears on screen. By leaving it till last, the audience are more likely to remember it and want to watch the trailer right through to find out the title.Within the trailer, the music begins quite slow but picks up the pace towards the end.This helps to build up tension. Also, non diegetic drum beats are used. This could represent heart beats, however, the sounds are harsh creating a dark tone to the trailer as it could suggest violence (beating of the drums as the beating of people.) At the end, both the website and release date are shown. this helps the audience to remember them both.
Finally, the whole trailer is tightly framed suggesting intimacy and entrapment, foreshadowing not only the social issues within the narrative but the yearn to be free. 

Things we liked about the 'The Hunger Games' and what we want to consider for our trailer:

1. A sibling bond

2. Hinting towards violence without anything graphical

3. The countdown at the end

4. Hand-held shots

5. Clothing/colours to symbolise emotions, feelings and themes 

6. The use of the institution logo part way through the trailer

7. Close-ups of important objects

8. Leaving the title till last

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

As a group, we didn't really focus on the sequel trailer to 'The Hunger Games' ('The Hunger Games: Cathching Fire'.) However, we looked at it briefly to see how trailers can promote a sequel through iconography, camera shots and copy. We found that this trailer was rather clever as it ended in a very similar way to the first trailer; Katniss was raised to the battle field and runs/swims. It also uses the same whistle at the end, however, most of the demographic should understand the whistle in this trailer unlike in the first (this is because the first film explains the whistle and most people will see the first film before the second.) 

Lord of the Flies:

Lord of the Flies was a book that the three of us studied during secondary school and we were quite intrigued with the story line. 'Lord of the Flies' targets mans true desires and creates a world without adults. The two main boys within the story- Jack and Ralph- become rivals due to the fight for authority when no adults have control. We liked the idea of having two main characters that strive for power. 'Lord of the Flies' uses nature as a key to survival and we decided that locations such as forests would be a nice idea to show the deterioration of man. Although 'Lord of the Flies' works well with no females in the story line, we decided that we would want females to feature within our film trailer. Just like 'The Hunger Games', 'Lord of the Flies' uses a symbolic object: the conch. This is once again an idea we like as it can be used to cause rivalry, show symbolism and help to focus the story on something. 

Things we liked about the narrative of 'Lord of the Flies'  and what we want to consider for our trailer:

1. Two main characters who strive for authority
2. A symbolic object
3. No adults
4. Forest locations

The Road:

Both me and Iain study English Literature and one of the books we had to study at AS Level was 'The Road' by Cormac Mccarthy. We watched the film and realised that the trailer may be a good influence for us as it focuses on a world gone wrong/post-apocalypse. 

The beginning begins with cuts using a television static effect. This gives the impression that it is a news report on television. Copy comes on screen and states, '10 years from now' suggesting that this film is based on what the future entails creating it to be much more believable and thrilling.  Panicked dialogue is used when the female states, 'what's happening?' suggesting that something has gone wrong and nobody knows exactly what or why. This questions the audience making them want to see the film to find out what has happened. We really liked the empty location shots as the non-diegetic booms built up the tension and made the world feel really alone. This helped to hint to the narrative that there are not many humans left. The quick use of copy on screen with words such as, 'wake', 'search' and 'move' adds to the pace and almost instructs the audience. By doing this, it is almost telling the demographic quick survival tips if this happens. The copy is then followed by clips complimenting the copy. This builds up the pace as quick cuts are used and we felt as if our trailer should use this technique. A group shot is used when people are searching the forest with torches. This hints that the main characters are being hunted, suggesting that human-kind has become quite animalistic. Also, the torches are used with fire and not battery powered suggesting that it has been a long time since the world faced an apocalyptic event as batteries have been used. This helps to show the time frame within the film. We thought it would be useful to show time using something like this. Within the trailer, violence is hinted at but no graphic details are shown. the main protagonist is holding a gun and a diagetic gun sound is used. However, the trailer does not show whether the man is killed, making the audience want to see the film to see if he survived. Also, the age rating of the trailer would be lowered due to the lack of graphic detail  'The Road' trailer mentions the author of the original book (Cormac Mccarthy.) This promotes the book as well as including a wider audience who may have read the book. As the trailer begins to reach the end, quick cuts are used to build up the pace. This is to help to reach the climax of the trailer to involve the audience and keep them on 'the edge of their seat.' Once again, copy and clips are used. Imperatives such as 'kill' and 'survive' are used almost telling the audience to do so. Thi will help to involve them so they will want to see the film. At the end, the cast and crew are mentioned briefly. This allows the audience to quickly see an actor/director they may know, making them want to see the film. The release date is the last thing that is shown, showing that that is what should be remembered. It says 'everywhere' which could be promoting the film so that everyone anywhere can see it. However, 'everywhere' could refer to the film because the apocalypse will happen 'everywhere'. Throughout the trailer, the music is used effectively. It begins with a piano playing to keep a slow steady pace. However, when the trailer moves on, the pace of the music quickens. Drums and loud music are used to quicken the pace as the drums could represent a heartbeat or bullets. The costumes within the trailer are rough, dark and old suggesting that a lot of time has passed. The dark colours can also connotate death, sadness and grief. and death. We liked the idea of a family bond between the father and son as it created sympathy and an emotional attachment. Finally, we thought the low key lighting as it represented a dead world and sadness.



Things we liked about the 'The Road' and what we want to consider for our trailer:

1. A family bond
2.  Empty shots with boom sounds
3. Dark clothing
4. Suggestive time frame
5. Suggestive violence
6. Imperative commands via copy
7. The idea of being hunted (torches)


Tomorrow When The War Began:

'Tomorrow When The War Began' begins with the institution 'Paramount'. It is really quick so that the audience know who it is without dragging it on too long. The beginning begins with happy scenes such as establishing shots, group shots and reverse shots. This helps to build the setting that everything in the world is fine at this point, causing the audience to feel calm. Everyday objects such as 'make-up' are mentioned showing the usual teenage girl and normal everyday life. To compliment what is happening on screen, happy music is used with a song that is within the pop genre. This helps to create a happy normal feel to make the audience feel like nothing is wrong. There are many group shots used to show friendship and the relationship between the people. It also suggests that there will be many main protagonists within the film. After showing normal life, copy states 'and it was all about to change' and shows jets in the sky. This is suggestive of the problem that the narrative faces. Just like the other trailers, quick cuts and boom sounds are used. This begins to set the pace to reach the climax of the trailer. Dialogue such as 'hello' and 'papa' suggests that people are missing so that the friends are alone. Also, the trailer states, 'from the best selling novel'. We noticed that this was a recurring convention so we decided that it may be useful to use it within our own trailer. Within the trailer, narration is used via a radio voice. This could be sued to suggest that the teenagers are facing a war as people used to listen for information via the radio during WW2. Once again, weapons are seen but no graphics are shown suggesting violence and death. This will make the audience want to see the film as they may like action and want to see more graphics within the film to see who dies etc. As for transitions  fades are often used. This could be to suggest that time is passing within the films narrative. The copy uses the colour silver. This could be to represent armor and weapons as swords tend to be silver in colour. Moreover, the colour stands out from the black background suggesting that the characters within the film are the light within the dark (the heroes).  The music, within the trailer, begins to die down to allow the female protagonist speak. this is ready to reach the climax of the film as the music comes straight back in. The music also dies down when the girl whispers 'run'. We liked the idea of someone whispering as it suggests secrecy, hiding and allows a pause before the music comes straight  back in. This trailer has hints to romance with a clip of two people kissing; we once again liked the idea of a relationship or family bond between characters. Finally, the trailer ends with the title, then the cast/crew and lastly the release date. This is quite effective as the title and release date are close together so they will be much more memorable.

Things we liked about the 'Tomorrow When The War Began' and what we want to consider for our trailer:

1. Relationship/bond between two people
2. Silver Font
3. Group shots
4. Mentioning the novel it was based on
5. Whispering to build up tension
6. Suggestive violence but no graphics