Camera Techniques & Effects | ISO

Movie Trailer Analysis

The trailer I am going to analyse is "The Purge" which was released in 2012. It is a very modernised style horror film. 

The first screen we see is a green band disclaimer. This is to display that the trailer is viewable for all ages and that their isn't any inappropriate content, such as sexual scenes or violence.







We are then slowly introduced to the story and "plot" of the film  through a series of different texts. We are informed that there is a whole new tone to America as it is a "Nation Reborn", we are then informed it is because crime is at an all time low, due to all crime being legal for one night a year.

We then see an aerial shot of a small neighborhood that we can determine is where the film is set. It appears to be a wealthy area and a very closed in neighborhood. The trailer is still slow paced and doesn't contain much action.

 After seeing the text implying "all crime is legal", we hear a crackling sound in which we see several CCTV clips of various crimes being carried out in different places, such as gun shots and violent beatings. Which adds the tone of fear to the film.

30 seconds in to the trailer is when the logo of the production company is presented, which is also created to match the tone of the film.

A narrative begins which is dialogue from the film. He quotes "Tonight allows people a release". It is a focus pull shot set behind the person he is talking too. The narrative informs us how dangerous the people can be, again creating another sense of fear.

Here you can see a a scene of a man sharpening a weapon on a professional piece of equipment. This helps portray the idea of the "No Crime" factor is very normal thing and people go about it like a day to day norm. The use of three shots helps show several things. Firstly we see the main characters watching and look in disagreement, this lets us know that they are against the idea. The second shot is a closer look at the man sharpening his weapon with sparks being displayed, and the third sjot is a close up of the weapon itself, to show how dangerous it is.

These two scenes also use dialogue as a narative. The child asks his parents; "Why don't you guys kill someone tonight?". This tells us that the "no laws" rule, doesn't seem wrong to the younger generation. We hear the dad reply how he is against it and no one will be being killed, but we see the mum give a suggestive look to the idea. Whilst we listen to the dad talk about how he doesn't feel the need to commit any crimes, we see a quick montage of them collecting weapons and clearly going against their word.

We then see a long shot of the house going into lock down, displaying how much protection they require during the no crime period. A close up is also used to show the thickness of the barriers they require.

The pace of the trailer then begins to speed up and shows a series of different events from the film to create the intense and dramatic atmosphere.

The Hollywood Studio System

The Main Hollywood Studios

·         Stars were contracted to lengthy contracts but were
 offered A class feature films.

·         Studios had enormous control over stars, managing their publicity, how they looked, what roles they got and how
they lived. Often able to control and scandals and
suppress negative publicity.

·         Studios were organised around vertical integration i.e. controlled production, distribution and exhibition.

·         If cinemas wanted the main features, they had to book
other films from the studio – leaving no room for independent films.

·         All the interests necessary to create profit under one roof.

·    A tightly controlled industry maximised profits and minimised risk.



Click on the New York Times logo to be directed to a news report, discussing the 90 Years of History of "United Artists Corporation".

Each production company was associated with various genre's of film and therefore were known for their specific tone. This was also because actors were tied into contracts with these companys and obviously their own style which would fit the genre specified by the Production company.

Below is a table, showing how many films from each company were of each genre between 1991 and 2010.

Editing Skills | Masking

  Good feature in some horror films such as "Mirrors", uses the effect of cloning. This is when the same person is in a shot, twice, and are doing different things. It can be used in a comical way, shown below;






It can also be used in a scary way, such as in "The Black Swan";




I wanted to test this effect, in order to be able to use it in our trailer when we come to film/edit. therefore I watched a couple tutorials online and found out how to do it. Our result is shown below;

 How I made it

 When you have imported your two video clips, you have to find the effect "Linear wipe". What this does is allows you to cut an overlaying clip in half, as shown below. The black section on the left hand side would usually be the underlying layer that will be displayed, making it appear as one clip.

In order to apply the cut, you use the percentage scroll on the "transition completion" setting under "Effect Controls". This will allow you to select where about the clip is cut, vertically down the middle. I put my setting to around 50% to ensure it was even and it wasn't noticeable.

After applying the effect, this was my final result.

Decision

Within my group, we have all decide that we want to create a theoretical movie trailer as out A2 media product as we feel we have more inspiration and motivation to create a trailer, opposed to a music video. We also feel that a horror film will be the best genre to follow, due to the expected conditions for when we have to film.

Below is a one link playlist, that we have watched for inspiration;

Group Dynamics - Introductory

LEWIS SOMERVILLE

Interests: Film & Television, Rugby, Wet T-shirt contests
Favorite Film(s): "FILTH", "American History X", "The Other Guys"
Favorite TV Shows: "Breaking Bad", "House of Cards",  "Scrubs", "The Office"

Favorite Quote
"Say something clever and your name lives on forever" - Anonymous

JESS SIMONDS

Interests: Fashion, Traveling, & Film
Favorite Film(s): "SAW",  "Sinister", "Harry Potter"
Favorite TV Shows: "Toddlers & Tiaras", "Gossip Girl", "Keeping Up with the Kardashians"

Favorite Quote
"If she's amazing, she wont be easy. If she's easy, she wont be amazing. If she's worth it, you won't give up. If you give up, you're not worthy... Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; You just gotta find the one's worth suffering for" - Bob Marley

KANE BOORMAN

Interests: Socialising, Music, Film & Television
Favorite Film(s): "In Time", "Romeo & Juliet", "Pineapple Express"
Favorite TV Shows: "The Office", "The Walking Dead", "Lost"

Favorite Quote
"You can't believe everything you read on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln

Conventions of a Film Trailer

As part of my research,  have looked at the various different factors that make a movie trailer. These range from camera angles to narrative and even the logo of the production company. Below is a spider diagram of various different conventions in more depth.











 
Another key convention is the response that you gain from the audience. The way that they respond and feel, emotionally, about your trailer is the key to the tone of the film. If they laugh and smile, it's more than likely going to be a successful trailer for a comedy. If they are burying their head in their jacket and their heart is racing, it's definitely going to be a successful trailer for a horror film.

Here is a shot from the "Audience Reaction" for the Paranormal Activity trailer.

and here is a shot of a audience watching a comedy film.

As you can see, the atmosphere is very different in both images. The atmosphere my group is aiming for is the first image, as we are aiming to make a thriller/horror and gain a scared reaction from the audience. 
         
                                                

Sound 
The key to creating atmosphere is the sound you use. If you want to make a light-hearted atmosphere, you are likely to use soft, easy to listen music. Where as making a scary/spooky atmosphere, you are likely to use eery and haunting music and sound effects. i.e. Tip Toe Through the Tulips - Tiny Tim, which was used in the extremely successful horror film "Insidious".

 

Pace 
The pace of the editing is key to the style of video you want to make. An informative trailer that portrays a story line is likely to be slow paced, where as a fast paced trailer is less-informative but creates a more thrilling atmosphere. Some trailers aren't all one pace. They may start slow and get faster or sometimes even vice versa.

Here is an example of a fast paced trailer;

 

We get a good idea of what the trailer is about, but we aren't informed on what direction the film is going in. Where as the trailer shown below, is a lot slower and we are informed on what the film is about and the direction it takes, as well as speeding up towards the end to create the thrilling concept of the film.