Primary Audience Research - Reflection

How will I alter my designs and ideas for my promotional product in order to attract the right audience? 

Usually, the target audience of psychological thrillers are for audience that are 18 and onward. Therefore, I will be mostly focusing on audience over 18, female and male equally even though it has been shown that females tend to like psychological thrillers specifically as they enjoy mystery and the intellectual side of mental illnesses and strange psychological behaviors that take place in psychological thrillers. However, the reason why I am keeping the gender of my target audience equal is because psychological thrillers could be also somewhat terrifying and act similar to the horror genre. Moreover, psychological thrillers are for audience 18 and over is because it requires intellectual understanding of the progressing plot which includes violence, blood, disturbing content and depressing morals.

In order to make my trailer unique, I will be creating suspense through different kinds of cinematography, shot lengths, sound and even colour. I will be using a relatable looking  protagonist that looks like an average goodhearted and innocent girl so the audience will relate to her at first but will understand that the physical appearance doesn't always match the 'personality'. I will be using original, handmade soundtrack and avoid overused "BRAAAM" sounds to create unwanted action drama.

I've mentioned that my target audience could be attracted to some films such as "Black Swan" as stated in the previous blog post. I will be using dark colours and soft and weak lights to symbolize the depressing mood of the protagonist (similar to "Black Swan"). I will also try to focus on using the right colours and saturation for different scenes to portray different moods, for example, I will use yellow and green for a happy and energetic scene (the beginning of the trailer) making the trailer stand out. I also have an idea to use contrasting colours especially in the beginning of the trailer. My idea is to use green (grass or field) with a red dress or red flowers. However, the costume of the protagonist would be important, I would like her to wear a white dress because the colour white resembles purity and innocence - a complete opposite of her true nature.

Regarding the dialogue, since my audience will be mature, it would be appropriate to use degrading and controversial topics and subjects inducing few swear words where appropriate. Using harsher language would clearly show that the film is targeted towards more mature audience. Another thing to keep in mind is to when I should use internal thinking and an external dialogue (such as consulting with therapist). However, I wouldn't rely on the dialogue too much in order to keep the mystery and not spoil the plot.

I will be using different locations to convey different types of moods. For example I could use a field to create a sense of freedom and happiness and an abandoned building to portray the hallucinations or despair of the protagonist (to show that her whole world is falling apart). I could also use a room that is similar to a consultation room and a room with a piano to progress the plot and give a clear idea of the characters.

Costumes of other characters include a horror latex mask (the illusion of the protagonists mind) with a simple t-shirt and I will also likely feature two more characters, a therapist and a friend. The Psychotherapist could wear 'smart' clothing and the 'friend' could wear average clothing.

Primary Audience Research

My interpretation of my target audience for my genre (Psychological) are in their late teens to early twenties or over because it will feature sensitive subjects, blood and violence.  The reason why my trailer is not targeted towards younger audience because it might be too intellectually demanding. Psychological Thriller films like The Sixth Sense, Black Swan and Memento are usually targeted towards adults and young adults, therefore my trailer should be targeted to audience who are over the age of 15. Moreover, my trailer will have a character that looks quite horrifying, this addition to the trailer could scare away younger audience. Even though a lot of Psychological Thrillers have their target audience over 18, my film in particular will be available for audience that are slightly younger because it will not contain sexually explicit content and strong language.

I believe that my target audience will me male as well as female, but could be targeted slightly more to males because the film is serious driven. I also think that my target audience are universal because there isn't a specific location the film should be filmed at and it involves something that everyone has, which is the mind meaning that the audience could be of any nationality and skin colour. Additionally, I believe that my audience who are interested into horror, mystery and psychology could be interested in movies such as "The Wailing", "Dead Silence" and "Black Swan" films. Additionally, it's possible that some percentage of my audience could be involved in a job that involves psychology, therefore I would need to be slightly cautions around the topic and do more research on mental illness.Additionally, my audience are into reading (particularly mystery novels and books) in order to stimulate their minds.

 I've decided to draw an average viewer of my trailer to better understand what kind of people would be watching it. I predict that slightly more males would watch this trailer rather than females because of the genre (psychological thriller) even though both genders would be targeted because horror and psychological would be suitable for females as well as males. The reason why I believe that there would be more males watching the film is because males are usually targeted stereotypically for horrors and thrillers in the industry. I've picked out an average hair and eye colour.

On the other hand, judging the predictions of other films, the female audience watch horror based films slightly more than male audience (usually from %10 less to 10% more than males) based on audience statistics from previously finished horror films. For example, I visited http://business.pearlanddean.com/films_guide to find out the statistics for "Ouija: Origin Of Evil" As it hasn't been released yet, they use the audience gender percentage from a similar but different horror film. 

The statistics say that majority of the audience for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" were male. Therefore, it's likely that more males would watch the Ouija. However, in other horror films, there were more females watching rather than males. "House at the End of the Street" for example, had 43% males watching the film compared to 57% of females. 

In order to find out more about my target audience, I will be creating a survey in order to make sure what their interests are instead of guessing on stereotypical predictions. 

Trailers as Multi-modal Texts

What is Multi-Modal?
Reading and writing that surround digital media are referred as Multi-Modal media meaning that it offers to use a variety of opportunities to create and design modes of expression. For example, it includes digital text, print text, images, gestures, movement and sound. In other words, it is a way to communicate using individual or various combinations of these stated modes.

I will be analyzing a trailer to consider how the features of multi-modal texts work together to create and reinforce meaning for their target audience.

 

Multimodal text from DomMalina

Sound in Trailers

Sound plays an incredibly important role in trailers, it is used to capture attention and make the whole 'experience' a lot more thrilling. A lot of modern trailers like to use Inception sound (the horn sound) to make the trailers feel a lot more 'serious' and action packed.  However, sound can also act as a 'tool' to make the trailers more original and successful. Trailer music is different compared to normal music, the composing has a different style.

The “Distortion Booms” and “Stutter Downers” in the Elysium Trailer for example, has one of the most recognizable sounds of the recent years.

Even though this trailer uses a lot of horn sounds, it still manages to be original due to an extra added soundtrack. The soundtrack that was added was mostly present at the end of the trailer, this is because trailers typically use shorter scenes and more action at the end of the trailer to show the Disruption and make it seem a lot more 'intense'. During the start of the trailer, it mainly features inception sounds and bass because it focuses more on the dialogue rather than action itself. Additionally, at the start of the trailer the music is usually quiet, calm or absent as it's not as important in the beginning as it is at the end.  

The "BRAAAAM" in the Inception Trailer is another example of a commonly used sound effect in many action trailers. It's just another term for heavy and thunderous bass notes used to impact audience and set an apocalyptic mood for the trailer.  The sound track and the "BRAAAM" sound effect already starts at 0:07 but quietly, as the dialogue is more important. However, once the screen with text 'pops' out at 0:11, the sound effect starts to get noticeably loud. On the other hand, this type of "BRAAAM" sound effect sounds different because it has a tempo (like drums) instead of a simple sound such as a horn. 

What is a Foley and a Foley Artist?

Foley sound is a sound effect that is recorded and added to the film during post production when the shooting of the movie is finished. These sound effects are useful to make certain sounds in the trailer clear such as, foot steps, doors slamming, paper rustling or any other sound that isn't a dialogue. These types of sound effects are usually avoided during production and on set in order to get a better quality product as it's clearly important to record the dialogue and nothing else. These effects are important because they provide more freedom with the control; such as the timing, quality and the volume of the dialogue compared to any other sound. In other words, its like working in layers but with sound. Foley is a great effect for enhancing the sound especially in genres such as Comedy, to add a comedic value such as loud punching and hitting sounds combined with silly acting.

A Foley artist is a person that records the sounds in a specialized studio or any post production sound studio with good equipment and props. Foley artists usually record the sound effects while seeing a screen that displays the footage of the trailer/film clearly, they add the sound while watching the screen for timing. The artists can perform anything from walking to breaking inanimate objects. However, not every sound effect needs to be done by a Foley Artist, a lot of sound effects such as a camera shutter sound can be stored digitally and downloaded for free in good quality. The sound effects can be done by the post production sound engineer on a keyboard whilst watching the footage. Unfortunately, doing this kind of approach with sound effects can get very repetitive lowering the quality of the film/trailer. It is also harder to find exactly the sound I'd want to hear in my trailer making the experience a lot less flexible.

There are few main examples of Foley sound effects in this Cindarella trailer. Firstly, the first foley sound effect that can be heard in the trailer is at 0:26 which is a cat 'meowing' combined with some rustling/metallic sounds to make the audience pay attention to the cat and its collar. Another loud sound effect that caught my attention was the dishes shattering because the protagonist dropped it on the floor at 0:42, I believe it was used to empathize the distress of the protagonist. I've also noticed clear horse running sounds at 0:47 with the sound track on top, it would be difficult to use the soundtrack if those sounds were coming from the video file. Finally, a last example I thought was eye-catching is the sound effect at 1:49. This sprinkling effect is interesting because it adds sound to a fictional/magical source within the film making the experience feel a lot more realistic.

Diegetic and Non Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is sound usually made by objects within the trailer. Another example of diegetic sound is a dialogue from characters and sound coming from a clear source such as instruments. However, it's not  necessary for diegetic sound to be within the scene, it could also be off set depending on the source. On the other hand, non-diegetic sound is a sound that is not visible on the screen and neither has been implied be present in the action. Distinguishing non-diegetic and diegetic sound depends on understanding of conventions in film, it is clear that some sound within the trailer is either coming from a source within the 'world' internally, or externally.

I've decided to use this Musical Film "Hairspray" as an example because it features a lot of sound tracks and sound effects. For example at 0:19 it shows a musical sound of clarinet and then later at 0:21 shows a short scene of people playing on instruments. This is a Diegetic Sound because the source of the sound can be seen clearly. There is another example of Diegetic sound at 1:07. It's diegetic because it is clearly shown that there is a band playing and a singer singing. However at 1:18, the source of sound is unknown even though it's clearly a musical instrument, that sound track is there to make a certain positive mood while the characters interact with each other at 1:20, this is an example of non diegetic sound. Additionally, this type of film does not use any inception sounds (the horns) because this type of film does not need to have suspense or action, it is quite light-hearted and does not fit with the generic action genre that uses this type of a sound effect.

I will likely keep the "BRAAAM" sound effects to a minimum or not include them at all in my trailer because it's not an action genre but it does need some kind of suspense sound effects. However, this research gave me an inspiring idea to use a diegetic and non diegetic sound. My idea is to use a calm sound track of a piano so it does well with the dialogue and show the protagonist actually using it in the scene (diegetic). Then, towards the end of the trailer I would like to use something more thrilling and scary as I will be able to show more action (non diegetic sound). I am also planning to use a sound effect for internal 'voices' and other simple foley effects.

Levi Strauss Narrative and Film Trailers

Strauss was born in 1908 in Belgium. He was mostly known as a ethnologist, he was specified in the development of the theory of structuralism and structural anthropology.  He grew up in France and studied philosophy in Paris. Levi Strauss believed that all people think of the world around them as binary opposites such as life and death, good and bad, up and down.

He applied that theory to narratives structuring the story around the conflict in Binary Opposites such as:

Good Vs Evil

Beautful Vs Ugly 

Hero Vs Villain

Humane Vs Inhumane

Mechanical Vs Organic

Civilization Vs Barbarity

Society Vs Separation (person)

Innocent Vs Corrupt

Where can we find binary opposites in media today?

Trailer: Walking Dead Season 1 Trailer (2012)

This type of trailer is a great example of story telling through obvious Binary Opposites which are Dead Vs Alive. The plot mainly revolves around the disease that turns people into flesh eating mindless beats and the survivals who try to keep away from the disease (as it's contagious through flesh and teeth). In the trailer, it clearly shows that the characters are at a huge disadvantage because it shows the 'zombie' creatures in large quantities. There are less survivors than the the diseased. However, this base of binary opposites provide additional questions such as obtaining resources and the relationships between the surviving people. The story seems to be revolved around a cop who is against the dead by trying to find his family and keep everyone alive. The trailer has a dark mood because it mostly features bad emotions such as fear, sadness and anger. The disadvantage in numbers suggests that it is extremely unlikely that the dead will vanish and the ending of the series will be a happy one, not to mention the people that are alive are extremely likely to convert into the 'dead' once they actually die because everyone is already infected through water, air and food. These strong problems makes the trailer more thrilling to the audience by clinging onto the last hope there is because the protagonist says "We'll survive by staying together" (0:21-0:23) .Additionally, the trailer is fast paced giving an adrenaline rush to the viewers. Even though, it starts off with a narrator, the character in the trailer clearly states that "Things are different, there's us and the dead" (0:15 - 0:19) contributing to the idea of binary opposites (Dead Vs Alive)

Unfortunately, there is also a negative aspect of using the Brinary Opposites because it can get too predictable, therefore good character development and plot twists need to be quite good. The walking dead manages to keep the story interesting to the audience by killing important characters and finding unexpected answers to the main problem. However, there are some Binary Opposites that seem quite 'overdone' such as superhero and marvel films as they strictly follow the opposites of Good vs Evil and Villain vs Hero. The Hero, in this case, always wins and the Villain never gives up, these types of stories are extremely predictable. 

How could I apply Binary Opposites in my trailer?

I don't think Binary Opposites are suited for my type of trailer because it will be heavily based on the protagonist fighting against herself. She cannot be opposite to herself therefore, this narrative theory cannot be applied to my trailer.  

Vladimir Propp Narrative Theory and Film Trailers

Vladimir was born in 1896 in Sait Petersburg. He was a Soviet Folklorist and scholar who analyzed the plot components identifying narrative elements. By analysing different Russian folk tales, Propp believes that characters nave a narrative function; the type of character can revolve around the plot structuring and building it. Even though, he didn't spend too much time on every possible combination of character types because they are merely a function to distribute around the story. He identifies 7 different character types not including the Hero type.

1. The Villain
2. The Hero
3. The Donor
4. The Helper
5. The Princess
6. Her Father
7. The dispatcher
8. The False Hero

The Villain prevents the Hero from getting the reward or causes the disruption in the story. Villains are present in many movies in today's society. For example, Star Wars has Darth Vader and The Matrix has Agent Smith as a villain. They are antagonists to the protagonists, these characters are usually disliked by the audience because they usually actively oppose or are quite hostile towards the main characters. 

The Hero are mostly protagonists, they usually seek something and are motivated by lacking something. These characters are important as they usually are the main role in the film. I believe that its likely that the story will revolve around them from their point of view. 

The Donor acts as a support for the Hero by providing an object with a magical property in order to progress in the story. The Donor could also prepare the hero.

The Helper can act as a right hand of a hero by helping him/her/ on their journey. Helpers aren't necessary but they can act as an addition to the story. Helpers can help morally as well as physically and are quite loyal to the Hero.

The Princess acts as a reward to the Hero for his/her hardships. This character type varies a lot in the modern media but in the folk tales it is incredibly common to have this character in a scenario of being captured by the Villain.

The Father is a character that will offer the reward to the hero. This character type could either approve the relationship between the Hero and the Princess or offer objective rewards such as money.

The dispatcher is a role that sends the hero on his 'quest' to stop the villain and get the reward.

The False Hero usually claims to be the hero. For example, he can be seen acting like a real hero by trying to marry the princess. The False hero could fall into the Villain category but the difference is that the villain has to be defeated but a false hero has to be exposed. These type of characters aren't purposely evil, unlike villains.

These 7 or 8 types look limited but once we consider the fact one of these character types could fulfil more than one of these 'departments', and the role can employ more than one character. Everything becomes a lot more varied in the roles. By generating the roles, we can sum up the plot of any Russian folktale. These analysis lead to interesting results such as realising the similarities between classic films and movies (Cinderella and Snow White for example). However this system doesn't determine the style and the point of view of style and characters. It can completely ignore social and historical context, these things are specific to individual works. 

Where can we find Propps Theory in modern trailers?

I will be analysing a Disney Film 'Tangled' (2010). Disney films are great examples of Props Theory as a lot of them have similar types of characters. The Villain is introduced early in the story, she is called Mother Gothel. The Villain captures the Princess (protagonist in this case) because of her ability to keep the villain young. The main purpose of the film is for the protagonist to travel to the place where the floating lights come from by using the help of a thief. At first, the thief character appears to be a False Hero but is soon changes character to Hero as his personality is relieved more and things change in the story causing him to think differently. Additionally, another important character in this film is a horse called Maximus, he mostly matches the Helper type because he is present in her adventure and watches over her as a guard. After some circumstances and sacrifices (such as cutting off her magical hair) the characters return to the destination. Finally, the protagonist, helper and the hero are rewarded by the parents by having a celebration in the kingdom. Overall, this film suggests that the character types can also shift through the different sections in order to make the character development a lot more interesting.

This theory is great for developing characters and setting a base to different personality types in media. This method is quite organised and already provides a raw summary of the plot judging by the character types. However, my trailer and my story isn't similar to any folk tales and is a lot more serious. On the other hand, I am planning to 'shift' the personality of the protagonist from 'good' to 'evil' or having an internal force as an antagonist. 

Todorov Narrative Theory and FilmsTrailers

Who is Tveztan Todorov? 

He was born in 1933 and is currently at the age of 77. He is a Bulgarian and French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and also an essayist. He is best known for his contribution to literary theory which he defined as 'Fantastic' in literature. He adopts the word as a term explicitly separates from fantasy. In his theory, he has 'five stages of narratives in film'. Tzvetan wrote several book and essays on 'thought history', 'culture theory' and 'literature theory' publishing a total of 21 books. 

Todorov believes that conventional narratives could be structured into five stages:

1. Equilibrium: this stage provides stability at the start, at a point of time where everything is as it should be.
2. The Disruption: a state when a problem or an even occurs changing the routine of stability.
3. Recognition: the realization that there has been a disruption.
4. Attempt to repair: the characters try to fix the conflict the distribution is causing. 
5. The New Equilibrium: it isn't the original Equilibrium because of the effects the disruption has caused. It is usually reprieved as the new norm.

There are a lot of films that follow this simple Todorov's structure. For example The Mummy, Spider-man and Lord of the Rings all follow a path (Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and New Equilibrium). These type of films tend to be quite satisfying as the endings are usually end on a good note. However, it's important to note that not all films follow this particular structure especially in horror films such as Cube (1997) where six people are inexplicably imprisoned in a booby-trapped system of boxes, with no hope and fewer means of escape, the problem was never truly resolved. 

What modern films follow the five stages?

The trailer for a Divergent (2014) (Science fiction/Dystopian) is a good example for Todorov's theory. It clearly shows the stages in it's plot and features the stages in the trailer. In the plot, the society is different to what we are used to in the real world, they are divided in few groups depending on the family and their talents (that part of the film is the norm of their society). Each person could only be adapted in one group. Instead, the protagonist causes the Disruption by being able to join every group. That ability was dangerous for the 'society' and they attempt to get rid of the protagonist (recognition). The protagonist's life changes at the end of the film which is the New Equilibrium. In the trailer the New Equilibrium isn't shown because it would tell the whole plot of the movie and thus, reducing profits. 

I could use this technique in my own film trailer but I prefer Ronald Barthe's theory for my story telling. I prefer my trailer to be questionable by the audience and even a little abstract-looking. If my trailer would be a film, I wouldn't want it to have a satisfying ending. 

Barthes Narrative and Film Trailers

RONALD BARTHES

Who is he?

Barthes was born in 1915 and he was French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic, and semiotician. He is widely known for coming up with the theory 'engima' meaning that he believes that a mystery should be present in films, books and novels (any type of story telling) in order to keep the audience interested. 

Ronald Barthes has his own theory about text that appears in places such as television, posters or regarding any narrative in media. He believes that text have mysterious properties in order to attract audience and ask certain questions. Barthes had five codes which can be applied in any narrative.

The Cultural Code:

This type of code refers to anything that is culturally specific in order to apply it into a text. It usually cannot be challenged and is assumed to be 'the fountain of truth'. Generally, this involves either religion or science. Although, things like the 'magical truth' can be used in fantasy stories. An example of this could be a television series called "Games of Thrones", The show features historical and medieval views, religious beliefs and tactics. The audience need to be familiar with the values of the past to associate with certain meanings in text.

The Hermeneutic Code: 

This particular code refers to a type of story that remains a mystery to the audience, it is never fully explained. The truth is usually avoided by either openly aknowledging that there is no answer to a problem or deliberatley avoiding the truth. It can also be avoided by giving incomplete answers to the audience. The purpose of this code is to question the audience and make them ask questions until the final scene of the film reveals the answer. This type of writing is in particular, is  popular with the mystery genres.

 The Proairetic Code:

This code also adds tension by referring to any other type of action that is going to happen somewhere else. This will question audience and raise questions such as "What is going to happen?" The Proairetic Code typically works as a pair with The Hermeneutic Code in order to build that desired 'tension' and keep the reader engaged in the story. Barthes described these two codes as sequel codes that are dependant on each other.

The Semantic Code:

The code refers to the connotation of the story that gives additional meaning over the simple denotative meaning of the word. In other words, the authors are adding more meaning to the word in order to 'paint a richer picture' using a relatively limited type of text.

The Symbolic Code: 

This type of code is also quite similar to The Semantic Code. However, this code acts on a wider level by organising the semantic meanings into deeper sets of meanings. This code is as important to The Semantic Code as The Proairetic code to Hermeneutic Code. Overall, by using this code, a new meaning arises in the story instead of an opposing or conflicting ideas.

Applying The Codes in The Trailer

Film: Zodiac (2007)

This is an example of where we see 'enigma' today. This type of story heavily follows the Hermeneutic Code as it's mostly about finding the killer who calls himself the 'Zodiac'. Zodiac leaves clues for the police by writing different types of signs and getting in contact by voicemail/telephone. The reason why I believe it's Hermeneutic is because this trailer creates suspence by raising a lot of questions and giving no answers. The killer itself isn't shown in the trailer but he will likely be found in the film. Additionally, the audience are curious to who the murderer is, therefore they would likely watch it due to that curiosity. Not to mention, the film was based off real life events. The story mostly revolves around a young looking man who want's to involve himself into the case of Zodiac, he himself gets into some trouble by the killer (phone calls and suspicious places). This creates another mystery within the story (The Proairetic Code) to keep the audience engaged and more attached to the character within the story rather than a simple plot of police researching the killer until they find him. The Proairetic code also helps films such as this one have a less cliché ending. 

Promotional Poster: Ex Machina (2012)

'Enigma' isn't only used in text, it can also be used in posters in order to draw in the audience. These three posters above are advertisements for a film called "Ex Machina". The first two poster say "to erase the line between man and machine is to erase the line between man and 90DS". The quote raises questions and gives hints about the plot of the film which is whether it is safe to invent artificial intelligence. The third poster says "what happens to me is I fail your test?" which is in front of a photographs of a realistic looking woman with mechanical body parts looking back at the audience while facing forward illuminated by bright light on one side while staying in a harsh shadow. This particular quote seems almost like a threat, the question itself raises even more questions. Is she good or evil? Will artificial intelligence be the last thing mankind invents? "What happens to me if I fail your test" is said directly towards the audience because the word "you" is present. All three posters look dark and almost disturbing. The first one shows mechanical body parts that resemble a torso of a female's body, it doesn't feel alive and the cold tones of the 'body' definitely suggests that it isn't an organic being. The middle poster shows the main character (the cyborg) laying on the ground facing away from the audience showing as sense of loneliness. 

How could I apply this theory in my own film trailer?

Since my trailer revolves around psychology, it creates mystery about the brain. Even in our modern society, we don't know everything about the brain. It is a powerful and puzzling part of our body. By using information I obtained through researching mental illnesses in my spare time, I want to use a protagonist to show what is going on on the 'inside' rather than outside. I want the physical appearance to be a complete opposite of the thoughts and questionable actions taken part in the trailer. Films are often portrayed through the 'good' or 'innocent' characters showing their point of view rather than the 'twisted' characters. The best examples of films with 'villains' as main or secondary characters I know of are "Chained" and "American Psycho". In order to create suspense and keep my audience engages I would most likely follow 'The Hermeneutic Code' by not revealing what exactly she does and how she copes with her 'illnesses'.

Forms and Conventions of Film Trailers

Trailers are made in various ways and in many styles in order to capture their preferred target audience. Additionally, the trailers differ in style depending on what year they were made. For example, modern trailers capture the attention of the viewers better because they are more thrilling as they make the viewers excited giving them a sense of adrenaline. Old trailers, on the other hand, are more mysterious and laid back (Film Noir) as not a lot of films were action based in the past, instead, mystery, romance and comedy were quite popular.  As the time went by, our expectations changed. Now, we seek dramatic music, good CGI and a narrator with deep vocals in a typical trailer. "Black Sunday (1960)" trailer is black and white and the technology used to film it is definitely not something a 'modern' trailer would use unless it is intentional, even if they want to get the desired '1960' effect, it can be easily achieved using good equipment and a monochrome filter by using effective and proffesional movie making programmes.

So, what are the differences between trailers captured in the past and modern trailers? Film production logos are similar to any other logo's for any other product such as a drinking beverage called ''Pepsi", the design has been changing and rebranding ever since the product came into the market. The logos always stick to their original design in order to to be recognisable from old films they have made. An original 'old fashioned' film production logo is "Metro Goldwyn Mayer" which features a quick clip of a lion roaring. "Metro Goldwyn Mayer" is an extremely recognisable (especially in older films). Even this type of logo is renewed every time the quality of technology increases drastically. Additionally, modern logos are simplified in today's society because simple logo's are more recognisable and are easier to remember. An example of a simplified film logo could be "Paramount" a recognisable logo of a mountain surrounded by stars. Although, this logo varies depending on where it is shown, such as a film. "Paramount" looks a lot more realistic and detailed when it is shown in a film or a trailer but on a product or typically a website or on social media the logo looks quite simple and coloured in a single colour. These type of simple logos are quite useful for websites as it creates a clean and well polished professional look.

Film titles can vary a lot depending on when the film was made and what genre it is (romance, comedy or horror). For example, movies that are in the romance genres are likely to use words such as: 'Love', 'Us', or 'Together' for film titles that are far less likely to be used by Horror films as it doesn't relate to the story. Moreover, "Psycho (1960)" is an original title for a movie revolving around a man who is a psychopath and has no empathy. However, there is also a modern film based off the original 1960's film's context as well as the title which is "American Psycho (2000)". The reason why its title isn't exactly the same is because it would create confusion and could actually decrease the sales of the film because a successful film with the title "Psycho" already exists.

British Board of Film Classification

BBFC Certification is used to put age restrictions on films to prevent certain type of 'audience' from watching violent or immature content. It is also useful to get target audience and it's a useful guide for  customers to know what type of film they will be watching. The top symbol on the image is for Universal audiences meaning that it is suitable for all audiences aged 4 years or older. Films with this tag are likely not going to have discriminatory language, drugs or violence. It can feature nudity but without any sexual context. The next symbol below is ''PG'' meaning ''Parental Guidance", this suggests that the films might not be sensitive enough for certain type of children and children under 8 are advised not to watch the film. 12A and 12 are generally not suitable for children under 12 years of age unless accompanied by an adult. These films typically have moderate language, violence or threat. The next one down the list is a symbol with number 15 on it, this suggests that no one younger than 15 is permitted to see the film because very strong language is permitted and other factors such as drug use (without  promotion) and strong violence. Last but not least, a symbol with number 18 on it which means that only adults are allowed to watch the film, however, even these types of films have restrictions such as explicit content that might harm the public heath or morals. The final symbol is R18 which is a special and legally-restricted qualification which primarily focuses on controversial, violent and extremely sexual topics. These types of rules have formed in 1912 by members of the film industry and the acceptable amounts of strong languages, violence and drug use in a film varied between ratings ever since. Something that was acceptable 40 years ago might not be acceptable today. 

Example #1: The Third Man (1949)

This trailer is a great example of a classic film. The Third Man is a part of a thriller and drama and the trailer clearly states that as it starts off scary because the character is in a dark environment such as a sewer. The cast are also quite serious but the trailer has an unexpected turn, it starts to feel comedic because they feature characters smiling and running through the streets with a cheerful soundtrack and edited text. This suggests that the film has a comedic sense to it as well. The context of the film is mostly about investigation and curiosity because the main character is investigating the mysterious death of his old friend meaning that this film could also attract audience who are into the mystery genre. The movie is PG rated by BBFC meaning that it is quite friendly in terms of explicit content, the film can be watched by children that are accompanied by an adult. The trailer begins with text that says "Rialto Pictures" and right after the text disappears, a large shadow of a man appears in the scene. Its an effective way to cause the viewers to ask questions such as "who is it?" and "why is he there?" which will increase the suspense and cause them to watch the whole film. The trailer has no narrator but it does feature some dialogue of main characters even though most of the action is portrayed through movement, emotion, text and music. The trailer likes to show short cuts of environments in the film, the first one is a dark street, the next cut is text followed by a short cut of sewers and the third cut features another text that says "discover" followed by a shot of an abandoned theme park from a low perspective. This type of film could appear cliché  to modern audience because there were a lot of films made with a similar story since 1949. The trailer seems quite short as well as it lasts for 1 minute and 30 seconds whereas an average 'approved' trailer could last up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds. 

Example #2: The Ghost Writer (2010)

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This trailer is thriller/mystery and is modern as it was made in 2010. This film, on the other hand is rated PG-13 meaning that it is made specifically for more mature audience as it is more likely to feature 'harsher' content such as language, violence and drugs. However, the reason why it's PG-13 is because they needed a wider range of audience. Originally, "The Ghost Writer" was an R rated film but they cut out and trimmed harsh language, blood scenes and more. Compared to "The Third Man (1949)" the plot of this film is more complicated and less cliché because it's newer. New films need to come up with original content that will surprise the audience and capture their attention. Even though these two films have similar genres, the plot is quite different. The main character is called "The Ghost". Hiding the real name of the main character makes his personality traits to seem suspicious and mysterious which could lead up to a quite good plot twist. The films also has no narrators but it starts off with a dialogue of two people accompanied by text in order to explain the plot and show the relationships between the characters. The trailer also features a lot of places such as the airport and sea suggesting that the main character is switching between environments in order to achieve his 'goal'. during the end of the trailer, it becomes fast paced meaning it shows off more action in shorted cuts in order to create a sense of 'thrill' to the audience. 

These two on-screen texts above are shown in the trailer in-between some sequences of action and dialogue. The first one states "THE DEEPER HE GOES" followed by "THE DEADLIER IT BECOMES" text like this are typically used for trailers that do not have narration and in order to maintain the suspense the dialogue and action creates between and during the time when the on-screen text appears, the text prevents the suspense from interrupting. This text is used to raise questions for the main character, for example, 'what or who is making his journey deadlier?', 'is he going to resolve the mystery without dying?'. Finally, the title of the film is featured right before the trailer is finished followed by credits. The film title is also animated to make the trailer look more proffesional and it could also be a branded image of the name which is a light house.  After the animated title, a lot of on-screen text appears, the text is for naming the creators and the cast of the movie.