There are numerous places people see trailers such as on the internet, television and even in the cinema itself. In my experience, the last time I saw a trailer and watched it until the end was at the cinema while waiting to watch a film I've paid for, and seen a trailer of in the internet, specifically YouTube as it was quite hyped by average people. There were few moments that is easily remembered by watching many of the trailers before the film starts. The part that was most memorable were actions, explosions and interactions between the characters and most importantly the visuals and the sound. Seeing a trailer in the cinema is different rather than seeing it on a small screen and bad speakers, the cinema quality is great due to the enormous screen and loud vibrating sounds. Sometimes, the cinema shows trailers in 3D if the audience watches the film in 3D as well, this makes the experience a lot more memorable and intriguing. Seeing trailers in the cinema became a tradition for a lot of people as they are mostly entertaining to watch and were showcased for a long time.
Advantages and Disadvantages of different platforms used to show trailers:
The advantages of showcasing trailers in the cinema: The trailers are guaranteed to be watched by a group of people from start until the end. Multiple trailers will be seen in a span of 10 to 15 minutes. People will more likely remember them due to the big screen and good quality, they will also more likely to remember because they are watching it with their friends and family meaning that they are more likely to spread out the name of the trailer (increased chance to promote trailer by word of mouth). Using a cinema as a platform increases the quality and enjoyable experience of it. The trailers in cinemas are always exclusively age appropriate.
The disadvantages of showing trailers in the cinema; It mostly promotes the audience to watch it in the cinema rather than DVD's or Blue Rays. Additionally, it consumes time from the customer that paid to watch their film as showing each trailer takes a lot of time and it might make the customer less happy and less excited.
The advantages of showing trailers on television: Additionally, there are different platforms film trailers are used in order to promote their film to gain a larger audience. Another platform cound be TV, television is quite popular and most families use them to watch their favourite series and to catch up with the news, between films and series there are adverts shown usually in a span of 5 mintutes lasting up to 10 minutes. This is a great opportunity for a film trailer as the audience awaits for the film as there is no option to skip the ad. Therefore, it works simillary to cinema trailers. Moreover, there are a lot more audience watching the television than people in the cinema because it's cheaper and the films can be rewatched using the DVD. However, if the audience uses a DVD, it's not always possible to skip a trailer but it has it's own advantages which is to skip forward a film to a desired part.
The disadvantages of showing trailers on television: During advertisements, the audience don't always stay in front of the TV (most likely are not paying attention or aren't near the TV). Additionally, age innapropriate trailers are shown meaning that it might repulse some audience that do not fit into as a ''target audience''. Sometimes, there can be an option to fast forward trailers on DVD.
The advantages of showing trailers on the Internet: Internet is one of the most widely used and popular platforms as an average person spends atleast 3 hours on the internet daily or at least owns a device that can connect to the internet. YouTube is more popular than television meaning that there are more audience on this website than the audience on top 10 TV shows combined. Showcasing a trailer on the internet has an increased chance to be shared by link. This means that it boosts the popularity of the film quite significantly. Moreover, an average person can comment and leave a honest and constructive feedback for the particular film or a trailer.
The disadvantages of showing trailer on the Internet: People on the internet often spoil the ending or the story of the film decreasing the desire to watch the film by the audience that have not yet seen it but planned to watch it. Furthermore, showing a trailer on the internet might cause a risk because it could be illegally downloaded and published on user-generated websited such as YouTube (ignoring the copyright laws).
Sunday, 31 July 2016
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
How do trailers help market a film?
Most marketing campaigns use specific film genre to gain their audience by making them more interested. Additionally, the film also needs to be original, different from other films from the same genre which can be quite difficult based on story telling in such a short amount of time (as the whole movie is packed into two minutes or so). This is known as USP (Unique Selling Point) of the film. USP is what makes each film different by separating one film's title from another or use different special effects, combine unusual mix of genres and/or feature a popular star.
I will be analysing three trailers to see how UPP works in each one.
This trailer is quite original as it points out everything a 'generic' action trailer does honestly by making it into a joke. This trailer features few scenes of explosions and the narrator imitates the voice of a 'generic' narrator of action movies by speaking in a deep enthusiastic voice. Additionally, this film is also original because it mixes unusual genres which is science fiction and comedy. Usually science fictions are quite serious. This film has a lot of special effects and quirky looking characters (aliens) which is an asset adored by many film watchers. Moreover, the makers of the trailer explain it's unique selling point in the trailer itself which is very unlikely to see overall. It even states what are movie trailers for ''trailers are designed to give you an idea of the file in question in very short space of time". They feature things a lot of their audience like such as a short montage of the characters getting hit by some metal object and a scene of romance (roses and kissing) shortly after. Even the name of the film is quite original, it's easy to tell that it's a comedy film because no horror film would guide their audience to the galaxy following a hitchhiker's advice. Finally, this film also features a well known star called Martin Freeman, he played a main role in Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and plays a supporting role in Sherlock (series).
This trailer is longer than average, it is 3:31 minutes long which is a minute longer than the common trailer. The reason why it's longer is because they wanted to show off their cinematography and CGI effects which was something new and exciting to the film industry. These great visual effects we're unique, therefore the film was successful. Beside visual effects, the plot wasn't as intriguing in the film as it was in the trailer. In the trailer it seems to raise a lot of questions which the film wan't unable to answer, questions such as "what was life on Earth like?" this question was only answered through art concepts of the film but not the film itself or the trailer. On the other hand, the film was unique enough to sell due to the enormous budget of £237,000,000 that was spent mostly on CGI to make this film visually appealing. Therefore, the trailer was better than the film because the plot could be better. Even though the film sold well, it feels like it is an animation rather than the film which possibly contributed to it's high popularity and sales. Not to mention, the character designs of the 'aliens' we're quite unique, as we traditionally perceive aliens as ugly big headed and intelligent grey beings in space suits and technology. These designs go against the norm and imagine aliens as beautiful creatures living in tribes. This is a big appeal of the film, a world better than humanity, especially when Earth is extremely polluted. That 'alien' planet is full of thick forests and beautiful creatures as if that planet is something humanity ultimately wants.
I will be analysing three trailers to see how UPP works in each one.
The first trailer I will analyse is "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy"
This trailer is quite original as it points out everything a 'generic' action trailer does honestly by making it into a joke. This trailer features few scenes of explosions and the narrator imitates the voice of a 'generic' narrator of action movies by speaking in a deep enthusiastic voice. Additionally, this film is also original because it mixes unusual genres which is science fiction and comedy. Usually science fictions are quite serious. This film has a lot of special effects and quirky looking characters (aliens) which is an asset adored by many film watchers. Moreover, the makers of the trailer explain it's unique selling point in the trailer itself which is very unlikely to see overall. It even states what are movie trailers for ''trailers are designed to give you an idea of the file in question in very short space of time". They feature things a lot of their audience like such as a short montage of the characters getting hit by some metal object and a scene of romance (roses and kissing) shortly after. Even the name of the film is quite original, it's easy to tell that it's a comedy film because no horror film would guide their audience to the galaxy following a hitchhiker's advice. Finally, this film also features a well known star called Martin Freeman, he played a main role in Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and plays a supporting role in Sherlock (series).
Next trailer I will analyse is "The Signal"
This trailer is impressive, it looks different because it looks more abstract as if it's a piece of artwork rather just a simple film. The cinematography of this film is outstanding. The genre is Sci-fi and Horror, it seems frightening but not in the same way as an indie-horror which is what makes it stand out from other films. In many shots, it focused on a female rather than the protagonist to show that he is in love, this means that the film also has a little bit of romance even though it seems mostly philosophical. Overall, what captures my attention the most is the way the scenes are filmed, for example, I liked the scene with an extreme close up of a silhouette of two lips with a blue background. I also liked how the protagonist was laying in the field with a female and the scene was shot upside down. The colours are well thought out in each scene and the story is intriguing enough to be curious of (which will likely cause the audience to actually watch the film). This is a type of trailer I would be inspired from, for my own production as it doesn't look like too much CGI was used (atlas in some artistic scenes). The actors are well chosen even though they don't seem to have well known cast members. Additionally, by the looks of it, the film has a lot of metaphors and meaning behind many scenes and words judging by the railer alone, not a lot of films can pull off metaphors and this aspect makes it unique in it's own way.
The final trailer I will analyse is "Avatar"
Monday, 11 July 2016
Analysing Genre
Brief Discussion:
What are film trailers?
Film trailers are practically commercial advertisements for an upcoming film that will be released in the future to be viewed either in the cinema or any other device.
Why are they made?
They are made for their target audience to 'hype' their film, increase the chances for sales and showcase best cinematic moments without fully revealing the story. Film trailers have been produced since 1913 (first trailer was produced for the musical "The Pleasure Seekers") and first film (or motion pictures) were produced in 1895. Granlund was also first to introduce trailer material for an upcoming motion picture, using a slide technique to promote an upcoming film featuring Charlie Chaplin at Loew's Seventh Avenue Theatre in Harlem in 1914.
How do they work?
A lot of the trailers have a voice over, including a rating card (to indicate the rating of the film which are usually decided by professional critics.) When the trailer begins, it is creatively cut short (without giving away the story itself) to fire up the audience. There are bad trailers that give away the whole story and even the ending, these type of films tend to do worse as they told the whole film story in few minutes.
Who are they for?
They are made for typical people, specifically for those who watch any videos, films or series. The audience could also depend on the age as some films have age restrictions such as PG ratings that include parental guidance.
Where do we see them?
Typically, trailers are shown as 'preview' in the cinema before the actual film starts, they tend to show approximately 5 trailers before showcasing the film itself. Other films with big budgets promote their films on television. At the moment, YouTube is a great way to promote a film as the advertisements work similar to the 'preview' in the cinemas with an option to skip. Sometimes, we don't see trailers but we see posters instead on various places such as on a public transport and in the cinema itself. It seems that it is quite efficient to promote a trailer through a cinema as a lot of people gather that would suit their target audience (as they already spent money to buy a film ticket). By producing a poster, it increases the chances that the audience will type the upcoming film's name into the search box of the internet.
When are they released?
Many trailers can be put together before the film's final cut. Producing trailers before the film could make it misleading depending on the producer.
Genre Theory
I've researched three people and found out how films are put into categories, I analysed some films based on that knowledge.
What are film trailers?
Film trailers are practically commercial advertisements for an upcoming film that will be released in the future to be viewed either in the cinema or any other device.
Why are they made?
They are made for their target audience to 'hype' their film, increase the chances for sales and showcase best cinematic moments without fully revealing the story. Film trailers have been produced since 1913 (first trailer was produced for the musical "The Pleasure Seekers") and first film (or motion pictures) were produced in 1895. Granlund was also first to introduce trailer material for an upcoming motion picture, using a slide technique to promote an upcoming film featuring Charlie Chaplin at Loew's Seventh Avenue Theatre in Harlem in 1914.
How do they work?
A lot of the trailers have a voice over, including a rating card (to indicate the rating of the film which are usually decided by professional critics.) When the trailer begins, it is creatively cut short (without giving away the story itself) to fire up the audience. There are bad trailers that give away the whole story and even the ending, these type of films tend to do worse as they told the whole film story in few minutes.
Who are they for?
They are made for typical people, specifically for those who watch any videos, films or series. The audience could also depend on the age as some films have age restrictions such as PG ratings that include parental guidance.
Where do we see them?
Typically, trailers are shown as 'preview' in the cinema before the actual film starts, they tend to show approximately 5 trailers before showcasing the film itself. Other films with big budgets promote their films on television. At the moment, YouTube is a great way to promote a film as the advertisements work similar to the 'preview' in the cinemas with an option to skip. Sometimes, we don't see trailers but we see posters instead on various places such as on a public transport and in the cinema itself. It seems that it is quite efficient to promote a trailer through a cinema as a lot of people gather that would suit their target audience (as they already spent money to buy a film ticket). By producing a poster, it increases the chances that the audience will type the upcoming film's name into the search box of the internet.
When are they released?
Many trailers can be put together before the film's final cut. Producing trailers before the film could make it misleading depending on the producer.
Genre Theory
I've researched three people and found out how films are put into categories, I analysed some films based on that knowledge.
Trailer Analysis for Target Audience:
I will be analysing three trailers whilst having 'Target Audience' in mind.
The first trailer I've chose to analyse is "Snow White and the Huntsman Trailer" This is a fantasy action film with a slight romance.
It is stated that this film is PG-13 and it shows violence. Violence is seen in the trailer (the knights killing each other). However, I believe that this film had a particular audience in mind as they are recreating a popular and old fairy tale that is usually told for children. They changed the story to be more fitting for adults because they added more action than the film actually needs. Nonetheless, the film did not get a great rating (6.1) but the trailer seems rather impressive.
The second trailer I have chosen to analyse is "The Sixth Sense". This is a 1999 drama/mystery/thriller film about a young boy who can see dead people and it's set as PG-13. It's a ghost story yet it does not rely on special effects and CGI to portray a good plot within the movie. As the movie is scary, it is not suggested to be watched by small children as they can be influenced by this film and believe that ghosts will do them harm (technically terrify them). Therefore, it is more likely that this film is made for teenagers and above who like this type of genre. This is a quite popular film with good ratings (8.1/10) suggesting that CGI isn't necessary to tell a good story.
The final trailer I've chosen to analyse is "Gone Girl" The genre of this film is Mystery/Crime/Drama and the plot is about a husband who's wife disappeared and according to the trailer, he might not be innocent (psychopath killer). This film is rated R meaning that it's not supposed to be seen by younger audience (preferably 18+). The reason why it's for mature audience is because there is violence, dead bodies and most likely swear words. Overall, the film is targeted towards people who find mystery, crime and drama exciting and interesting which are more likely adults rather than children. The film has a good rating (8.1/10) meaning that the story is quite good.
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
Inspirational Trailers
What I like the most about the trailer is this scene (0:33). It shows the protagonist walking through the misty woods, the camera is inside a cave/hole to create a closed frame to show that someone might be watching her (like pray and predator)to prove that she has paranoia, it could also mean that she is trapped within her mind. I believe that this trailer has outstanding cinematography showing a different variety of camera angles (crane shots, close ups, point of view shots etc.) At the beginning of the trailer, there was a narration which sounds like a therapist telling her to relax while playing calming music in the background. The narrator states that fear is thoughts that disturb reality shortly after and the trailer turns into a twisted horror - calming music disappears completey and creepy sound effects come in.
Psycho (1960): This is Film Noir made by Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho is a film he is most known for due to it's interesting plot. It's a classic. I find this trailer inspiring because it helps me understand where this genre originated from and how different the trailers were back in the 60's. Since films and trailers today use difficult technology and special effects, this is a good trailer to be inspired for with a small budget and limited resources. Additionally, this trailer has a strong start (classic horror sound effect) and a powerful end (the last frame of the protagonist looking through a keyhole) to build suspense and curiosity for the viewers. That last frame has great contrast between light and dark suggesting that the light is coming from the other side of the door. This extreme close-up frame (keyhole and eye) could be something to feature in my trailer to relate to the classic films. The plot of the film is a husband who is a Psychopath who is planning to murder her wife, a generic horror but instead of mythical beings, it's a murderer which makes this film more accurate to the real world because there are in fact, murderers. Even though the murderer has a mental illness, this plot is solely focusing on a victim rather than the murderer himself (it does not show things from the perspective of the psychopath) which is something I'd like to have in my trailer, therefore this trailer will not be similar in terms of context. I would also like to have a more modern approach rather than classic black and white filming. Even though Paranoid Fiction has a sub-genre of Film Noir, I will not be taking that path in genre and production.
Jacob's Ladder (1990): This is a trailer I am mostly inspired from, it has a plot I am mostly appealed to for my trailer, it has incredible suspense (found in genres such as thriller) and it shows the story through the protagonist's perspective (he seems to have paranoia). Another thing that I like about this trailer is that it is fast paced with some exceptions of dialogue, this makes everything more exciting as the frames change drastically creating many questions that will be answered in the movie itself. Additionally, the trailer shows deformed characters which look quite frightening; that could be a creative way to show his paranoia or hallucinations. Most of the trailer has dark and cold (blue) lighting, this is a good technique to set a particular mood, in this case a miserable mood because we associate blue and black as depressing colours, some scenes have a lot of orange which actually creates a nice contrast and complimentary colour composition. In order to make this trailer even more exciting, the sound is incredibly intriguing making it seem even more fast paced and 'thrilling'. Personally, the first time I watched this trailer, my heart beat was faster than usual and I wasn't distracted by anything suggesting that I was into the story. The plot of this story is about a man who undergoes a traumatic experience in a Vietnam battlefield finds himself filled with anxieties and hallucinations (something similar to PTSD) Due to these hallucinations (such as faceless demons in cars) , the protagonist suffers from panic attacts. I believe that post-traumatic stress disorder could be an interesting context for this particular genre. Even though it shows some hallucinations coming from his point of view to the viewers, I'd like my trailer to look more abstract (or even more random) from the protagonist's point of view to show the disorganization and the confusion of the character's mind.
Chosen Genre
Philosophical Thriller
I've researched sub genres from Paranoid Fiction and I've decided to focus on the philosophical side of the Paranoid Genre. I've decided to make something unique and compelling - a hybrid genre. I am planning to make it slightly frightening, depressing and thrilling.
Plot:
I will be focusing on telling a story through protagonist's mind, which is usually seen in Paranoid Fiction genres meaning that I will be distorting reality using 'internal' forces (such as the characters mind), this means that I will be focusing on mental illness. My idea is to have a main character suffering from mental illness such as PPD (paranoid personality disorder), Anxiety, Schizophrenia or PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). I am mostly heading towards Schizophrenia because I could use interesting sound effects of voices in my trailer as hearing voices is one of the symptoms of having this mental illness following by hallucinations and changes in behavior. This could mean that the 'voices' demand unethical actions to the character, the protagonist could resist at first but the character is consumed by hallucinations resulting in insanity. People do not understand/ care for the protagonist causing her to have crippling loneliness which results in listening to the demanding dark voices. At the start of the trailer, the main character will look like an ordinary person relaxing while the narrator could say some philosophical things and the trailer could finish destructively showing what the main character experiences.
Character:
In this particular trailer I will be mostly focusing on one character - which is the protagonist making almost immediate connection with the viewers with few shots of secondary characters. At this moment, I also have an idea to feature a distorted character in the trailer to create suspense, I could get a 'distorted' character by getting a latex mask - they tend to look realistic if I would get a right one. I am planning to have a female (preferably fragile and small) as a main character to show that she might look harmless but she isn't.
Props:
I want my main character to have casual clothing, preferably a simple dress to contribute to the 'harmless' assumption. I could use a see-through peel off mask, broken mirror, red ink and water and a scary latex mask.
Locations:
For the beginning of the trailer I would like to use a peaceful place such as a field (possibly with flowers) which could also be used to film a speed up of the sky. After the 'peaceful' part, an abandoned building would be a great place to film to show repression, loneliness (as it's abandoned), I want this trailer to look quite abstract. I could use any depressing looking locations.
Cinematography and editing:
I will be using royalty free calm music for the start of the trailer, for sound effects I could use an existing sound effect (the voices). Additionally, most of the trailer is going to be fast paced meaning I would need to tell a story in short cuts, therefore I could do an extreme close up of protagonist and a keyhole and stop motions (head tilts). Some parts of the trailer will have text featuring the name of the film and more. I also want to do some closed framing in some parts of the trailer.
Effects:
I will be using a software to alter the colors of the scene to make the mood slightly more blue, unsaturated and dark. I will be placing audio on top of existing video clip for narrations and music. Additionally, I will make some effects for the text that will feature the name of the film.
I've researched sub genres from Paranoid Fiction and I've decided to focus on the philosophical side of the Paranoid Genre. I've decided to make something unique and compelling - a hybrid genre. I am planning to make it slightly frightening, depressing and thrilling.
Plot:
I will be focusing on telling a story through protagonist's mind, which is usually seen in Paranoid Fiction genres meaning that I will be distorting reality using 'internal' forces (such as the characters mind), this means that I will be focusing on mental illness. My idea is to have a main character suffering from mental illness such as PPD (paranoid personality disorder), Anxiety, Schizophrenia or PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). I am mostly heading towards Schizophrenia because I could use interesting sound effects of voices in my trailer as hearing voices is one of the symptoms of having this mental illness following by hallucinations and changes in behavior. This could mean that the 'voices' demand unethical actions to the character, the protagonist could resist at first but the character is consumed by hallucinations resulting in insanity. People do not understand/ care for the protagonist causing her to have crippling loneliness which results in listening to the demanding dark voices. At the start of the trailer, the main character will look like an ordinary person relaxing while the narrator could say some philosophical things and the trailer could finish destructively showing what the main character experiences.
Character:
In this particular trailer I will be mostly focusing on one character - which is the protagonist making almost immediate connection with the viewers with few shots of secondary characters. At this moment, I also have an idea to feature a distorted character in the trailer to create suspense, I could get a 'distorted' character by getting a latex mask - they tend to look realistic if I would get a right one. I am planning to have a female (preferably fragile and small) as a main character to show that she might look harmless but she isn't.
Props:
I want my main character to have casual clothing, preferably a simple dress to contribute to the 'harmless' assumption. I could use a see-through peel off mask, broken mirror, red ink and water and a scary latex mask.
Locations:
For the beginning of the trailer I would like to use a peaceful place such as a field (possibly with flowers) which could also be used to film a speed up of the sky. After the 'peaceful' part, an abandoned building would be a great place to film to show repression, loneliness (as it's abandoned), I want this trailer to look quite abstract. I could use any depressing looking locations.
Cinematography and editing:
I will be using royalty free calm music for the start of the trailer, for sound effects I could use an existing sound effect (the voices). Additionally, most of the trailer is going to be fast paced meaning I would need to tell a story in short cuts, therefore I could do an extreme close up of protagonist and a keyhole and stop motions (head tilts). Some parts of the trailer will have text featuring the name of the film and more. I also want to do some closed framing in some parts of the trailer.
Effects:
I will be using a software to alter the colors of the scene to make the mood slightly more blue, unsaturated and dark. I will be placing audio on top of existing video clip for narrations and music. Additionally, I will make some effects for the text that will feature the name of the film.
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