The first thing we get told when watching this trailer is the location as it comes up in text - "America, a nation reborn", the text then fades and a transition is used to fade into the next shot of a mum, dad and their child walking; this long shot doesn't give any indication on the genre yet. The trailer then continues on to show another family eating dinner while smiling and laughing making the audience feel this movie could be anything but the horror/thriller that it is. At 25 seconds in is the first sign that this movie isn't as innocent as it comes across because the clip then appears to break slightly as it says "One night a year", continuing on to see CCTV footage of a gang beating someone else up, implying that the genre is a lot more intense than we thought. These CCTV shots make the film look more realistic because its filmed with equipment that we are around in every day life unlike the cameras that film the rest of the movie.
There isn't much music or sound in the beginning of this trailer; they only use a slow piano when showing the first couple of clips which is effective because it allows you to concentrate on the text telling you the concept of the film. The music then changes to different sounds when we are shown the next couple of clips, instead of the piano, we are now hearing the sound of quiet alarms and a couple of police sirens used as bridge sound. The dialogue is mainly used to explain the plot of this film and to explain what 'the purge' is. The music and sounds build up suspense for a line one of the main protagonists in the movie say, "We're going to make it through tonight, and everything will be ok", to which the daughter replies "nothing will be ok again". The style of the music that starts at 1 minute 44 seconds shows a contrast between the good and the bad (the antagonists and the protagonists) as it is being played over the continuous non diegetic sounds of the alarms and sirens. Choir sounding music reminds the audience that this movie is about innocent, good people given the chance to kill anyone and have no consequences, leaving thriller movie fans feeling intrigued but also the rest of the audience feel afraid.
Mundane realism is used because the characters and location is realistic, its just the concept that isn't, the nuclear family make the audience feel as though the movie is a lot more realistic than it actually is which leaves an effect on them as they would feel on edge. Although the houses and location is presented as a very wealthy area, the family and regular way of living would help the relation.
The unique selling point for this movie is that it was brought from the people that created Paranormal Activity which was a very successful series of films, and Sinister which was also successful. The film Sinister includes the same actor in it as The Purge which would also be a unique selling point because he is recognisable for horror/thriller movie fans making them want to see if this movie will be as good as the others created by the same people.
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
Lucy - Theatrical trailer analysis
We are introduced to many different locations when watching the trailer such, one of which is of the female character (Lucy) in a club which reflects again on the type of character she originally is at the beginning of the film. We are then taken to a foreign country where Lucy has been kidnapped and drugged; hinting the genre more to the audience. Many extreme close ups are used to make the audience as unaware with the location as Lucy, for example, 26 seconds into the trailer we are shown an extreme close up of her eyes which shows fear and then we are also shown her lips trembling at 28 seconds; the point of view shot used from Lucy's point of view also creates the same effect as the extreme close ups. Making these certain shots only around 1 second long builds adrenaline for whoever's watching which is conforming to the genre.
The dialogue at the beginning of the trailer creates many enigmas for the audience as well as showing that the female character doesn't know whats happening; the only dialogue is Lucy asking questions - "What happened? What did you do to my stomach? Whats going on?", the first two questions are used as bridge sound and overlay clips of Lucy in the club and then waking up somewhere she doesn't know. The final question is asked as diegetic sound as we see her saying it to a group of men in which she is looking belittled as she is shown lower down in a medium shot. There is a massive contrast in the characters behaviour and strength at the end and beginning of the film; she has been shown as unstoppable towards the middle and end but is presented as a weak, vulnerable person at the beginning.
A definite unique selling point for this movie are the actors; Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansen are very well known from other successful action movies such as The Dark Knight and Iron Man 2, giving this film benefits because of the likability of the two. The director (Luc Bensson) is also a unique selling point as he has directed a handful of films such as Taken 1 and 2; die hard fans of Taken would want to see 'Lucy' because of the director.
The non diegetic sound and music gradually builds up and gets louder throughout the trailer to build suspense within the audience, you notice that the beginning of the trailer only plays music of a light humming, but then we are bombarded with the diegetic sound of the club which then goes after a few seconds, this sets a contrast between the past and the present time of the movie. It seems that the music gets more powerful as Lucy is presented as more powerful, the music and sound effects create this effect as her actions are in time with the non diegetic sounds, making it in sinc.
Friday, 15 August 2014
The Strangers - Theatrical trailer analysis
Just like most trailers, this one begins in a normal setting with normal people, living a normal life; it shows a couple in a home at night which makes the audience think this movie could be romance although we soon find out it isn't. Presenting the movie as a romance film before revealing its actually a horror can intrigue a wider range audience because woman are stereotypically more interested in a film if it is about love and not death or the paranormal, whereas men enjoy the adrenaline of being scared. I feel this trailer projects more of a romance theme to it at first because of the ambient lighting and red petals scattered on a bed connote love and passion; the camera pans the petals to show the audience the type of relationship the characters have. Although this is the case, they use a point of view shot as the first shot which adds a more haunting effect as though someone is watching the couple; the non diagetic sound of the piano also helps bring tension to the audience because it is one of the only sounds being played as the trailer begins. The only other sound being played is diagetic and hints that the location of this movie is the country, away from civilisation; the crickets from outside the cabin.
Using dialogue and different shots is a good way to present the characters relationship, in this case the dialogue is effective as the male character says to the female character "You are my girl", which then the female replies "I love you, Jimmy", three different close up shots are used to show the couple hug as this dialogue is being played as bridge sound throughout these shots. The trailer then continues as the pair hear a loud bang which is another sign that the genre of this movie is thriller/horror as there isn't much evidence until this point in the trailer that this movies genre isn't what the audience will first think. There is then a change in background noises coming from outside, what was once before the quietness of cockroaches is now the squeaks of a swing which we are shown a few seconds later to reveal that there is no one there - conforming to the genre of this movie.
Mundane realism is used to help the audience relate to the characters and plot; by basing the location in a regular home will make the viewers feel more sympathy for the protagonists as they have more in common. The clothing used also shows the class of the characters - working/middle class, statistics have shown that these classes are most likely to go to the theatre to watch a horror movie making it easier for the audience to relate.
The text and font used in this trailer adds to the effects of the movie genre being a horror because it almost looks as though their are shadows over laying the words, making it harder to read but creating more enigmas as it makes the over all movie more unclear. The first text we read on the screen is "based on true events", this will appeal to horror movie fans as they enjoy being scared; mentioning this movie is based on true events will leave them feeling on edge as they know it has already happened in reality.
We first see the antagonist in the background of one of the protagonists 54 seconds into the trailer, not introducing any of the characters properly creates enigmas which would make the audience want to go and see the movie. This long shot lasts around 9 seconds which builds tension in the audience, using longer pace shots is an effective way to scare the audience and make them feel something will happen even if it doesn't because of the way horror movies conform to the stereotypical views. At the point we first see the antagonist we are roughly half way through the trailer which is when we usually get a glimpse on the negative side of the movie being promoted even if the genre isn't horror, the transition that fades the clip into darkness represents this as it, as well as the sudden non diabetic sound making this sequence of clips effective as it gradually tells more of the plot. The transitions have been changed as we are shown the more disturbing side of this movie; whilst we were being shown the shots of the rose petals on the bed, woman in the bath and candles the transitions were simply fading into the next shot but later on they change to be faded into darkness then to the next shot which creates an effect on the audience watching.
The pace of shots rapidly speed up as the gets closer to the end of the trailer, as well as the music getting louder with the broken record player repeating its self making the viewing experience haunting and in some ways disturbing for the audience. We are then finally shown a medium shot of the three antagonists for a brief second which creates an enigma as we hardly have time to take in that they look like, a question is then asked from the protagonist - "Why are you doing this to us?" which then gets a chilling reply of "because you were home", this dialogue is relatable to anyone in the audience as they can be home at any time just like the normal couple were, again helping them relate to the protagonists, leaving the audience feel on edge and leaving the trailer at a cliff hanger.
Using dialogue and different shots is a good way to present the characters relationship, in this case the dialogue is effective as the male character says to the female character "You are my girl", which then the female replies "I love you, Jimmy", three different close up shots are used to show the couple hug as this dialogue is being played as bridge sound throughout these shots. The trailer then continues as the pair hear a loud bang which is another sign that the genre of this movie is thriller/horror as there isn't much evidence until this point in the trailer that this movies genre isn't what the audience will first think. There is then a change in background noises coming from outside, what was once before the quietness of cockroaches is now the squeaks of a swing which we are shown a few seconds later to reveal that there is no one there - conforming to the genre of this movie.
Mundane realism is used to help the audience relate to the characters and plot; by basing the location in a regular home will make the viewers feel more sympathy for the protagonists as they have more in common. The clothing used also shows the class of the characters - working/middle class, statistics have shown that these classes are most likely to go to the theatre to watch a horror movie making it easier for the audience to relate.
The text and font used in this trailer adds to the effects of the movie genre being a horror because it almost looks as though their are shadows over laying the words, making it harder to read but creating more enigmas as it makes the over all movie more unclear. The first text we read on the screen is "based on true events", this will appeal to horror movie fans as they enjoy being scared; mentioning this movie is based on true events will leave them feeling on edge as they know it has already happened in reality.
We first see the antagonist in the background of one of the protagonists 54 seconds into the trailer, not introducing any of the characters properly creates enigmas which would make the audience want to go and see the movie. This long shot lasts around 9 seconds which builds tension in the audience, using longer pace shots is an effective way to scare the audience and make them feel something will happen even if it doesn't because of the way horror movies conform to the stereotypical views. At the point we first see the antagonist we are roughly half way through the trailer which is when we usually get a glimpse on the negative side of the movie being promoted even if the genre isn't horror, the transition that fades the clip into darkness represents this as it, as well as the sudden non diabetic sound making this sequence of clips effective as it gradually tells more of the plot. The transitions have been changed as we are shown the more disturbing side of this movie; whilst we were being shown the shots of the rose petals on the bed, woman in the bath and candles the transitions were simply fading into the next shot but later on they change to be faded into darkness then to the next shot which creates an effect on the audience watching.
The pace of shots rapidly speed up as the gets closer to the end of the trailer, as well as the music getting louder with the broken record player repeating its self making the viewing experience haunting and in some ways disturbing for the audience. We are then finally shown a medium shot of the three antagonists for a brief second which creates an enigma as we hardly have time to take in that they look like, a question is then asked from the protagonist - "Why are you doing this to us?" which then gets a chilling reply of "because you were home", this dialogue is relatable to anyone in the audience as they can be home at any time just like the normal couple were, again helping them relate to the protagonists, leaving the audience feel on edge and leaving the trailer at a cliff hanger.
Monday, 11 August 2014
Bond Through the Ages
Skyfall (2012)
They have used a long shot for this
image to show the location as Big Ben shows it is based in London which is a
well known big city, drawing in the American audience because they love British
culture. The long shot is also there to present the main character which is a
unique selling point as Daniel Craig is well known and popular, using him as
the main character will most likely attract more of the female audience as some
may find him attractive, while the action side of the film will attract the
males, resulting in a wider audience.
This front cover is very different to the Sky Fall one because they didn't use just a photograph of the main character, but instead included other characters in the background which will also play an important role in the film just not as important as James Bond himself. We know Bond the man on the picture is the main character because he is in the centre of both of the girls suggesting he is a 'ladies man'; also shows two picture of him, one of him holding a gun and the other of him running out of fire surrounded by planes and helicopters, both of these images show that this films genre is action. Something else that suggests this movie is an action film is what it says at the bottom of the poster - "No limits, no fear, no substitutes", giving the audience an idea on how action based it will be.
The black background connotes danger and mystery, which can hint that this movie may also be a spy movie giving it an appeal to a lot more people due to the fact males are known to enjoy adrenaline rushes in which an action/spy movie create. There is also a lot of gold in the poster; in the title and the '007' sign, they may have decided to use this colour as it connotes wealth and a higher class which reflects on the characters in the movie such as James Bond and also the two female characters standing behind him as they are wearing quite formal, rich looking dresses, showing off their power and dominance; conforming to the female stereotypes that women aren't very strong and are just known as not being able to do things for them selves, whereas men are the opposite.
The clothing the women are wearing is showing the audience the type of role they play in the movie, for example the woman of the left is wearing white suggests she is innocent as the white dress connotes purity, but the woman on the right is wearing black suggesting she could possible be an antagonist and isn't so innocent because the colour black is meant to make her come across as a more confident character that isn't so innocent.
Something that may be harder to see but gives a good hint on something that will most likely be a big part of the movie is the blue outlines of different countries at the top of the poster behind the two female characters, this shows that there will probably be some sort of rivalry between different countries or something of the sort.
Goldfinger (1964)
The first thing that catches your eye when looking at this poster is the black background, just like the Goldeneye poster the black background is used as a way to show mystery. The way they have hinted that this movie is an action film is mainly in the text they used, by actually stating "James Bond is back in action", gives a massive hint that this movies genre is action. The other sentence on the poster - "Everything he touches turns to excitement", this creates an enigma because an audience would want to know who they are talking about although the first sentence makes it more obvious as Bond is an iconic character. The other thing that suggests that this movie is an action film is the second picture as it shows a gun, this object in used in every poster apart form the Dr No one, almost making it a stable piece in an action film.
The colour yellow is used against the black background to make the important text stand out, such as the name 'Sean Connery' which is also an iconic name as he is the original James Bond and starred in Dr No. The gold woman in the foreground connote wealth just like the use of gold used in the more recent James Bond movies, she also relates to the title of the movie, suggesting that this movie may have female character as an innocent person that Bond needs to protect; conforming to the stereotypes of the roles of males and females.
The font used is very bold and clear, all of it is also in capitals to create a sense of excitement for the film. It appears that they decided to make the title bolder than the other texts on the poster to help it stand out as it has been placed at the bottom of the poster after "James Bond is back", making that text more important and using it as a unique selling point to a wide audience of males and females; the males would be excited about the action and the girls would be attracted to the main character playing Bond because the first film was such a success; these unique selling points benefits the films popularity.
Dr.No (1962)
This is the oldest James Bond poster I am evaluating, it is also very different to the others because they didn't make it obvious what genre this movie may be, I personally feel as though it is conforming more to the conventions of romance instead of action due to the lack of signs that link to action and how the characters are presented. The girl on the right has been captured as quite femanine and weak; the clothing suggests this as she is wearing white/pale pink which connotes innocence just like the woman on the left in the Goldeneye poster.
The only signs in this poster that are hinting that this movie is an action/adventure film is the writing at the top which says "introducing Ian Flemings master spy, James Bond 007 in his first motion picture adventure! He's licensed to kill...". The use of words such as 'master spy' and licensed to kill' gives an appeal to the target audience as it creates excitment. It would also create excitments because movies were a bigger deal around the time this came out because everyone was still taking in film and cinema. One other sign there is that this movie is action based is the photograph of the girl and Bond running in the centre, showing them running away from something or someone. Looking closer into this image you can see the background is showing a swimming pool which shows wealth to the characters because they are placed by it.
An antagonist type character is presented in the poster at the bottoms, I feel this could be the antagonist because of the object he is holding - a cage, although I think this, he is dressed in similar clothes to Bond which suggests that he could be a good character that the audience will like.
The use of colours is interesting in this poster as they aren't an obvious choice to use for this genre, the blue in this image connotes sorrrow but because of the background image seems to be based in an exotic country, it changes the idea on why they used blue as the main colour making it feel like it is relating to the location and weather; it also helps the red title stand out a lot more. Putting 'Dr.No' in red connotes danger and fear but also love, which gives a wider idea on the plot and atrracts a much bigger audience because females tend to enjoy watching romance movies whereas males enjoy action/adventure. Font wise, they have used a very similar one to the other posters, almost as though they have set a theme for the movies series.
They have used a long shot for this
image to show the location as Big Ben shows it is based in London which is a
well known big city, drawing in the American audience because they love British
culture. The long shot is also there to present the main character which is a
unique selling point as Daniel Craig is well known and popular, using him as
the main character will most likely attract more of the female audience as some
may find him attractive, while the action side of the film will attract the
males, resulting in a wider audience.
There are many other reasons why
they decided to use a long shot for the cover, such as it shows an Aston martin
in the foreground which has been a part of the movie series; making it iconic.
The clothing the character is wearing shows a sign of wealth to the character
as well as class, this creates a contrast between the character and the gun he
is holding making it stand out, giving almost a hidden message that this films
genre is action but not trying to give it away too much; they seem to be using
the wealth and class of the character to sell this movie and intrigue an
audience.
As you can see, this poster is
almost completely black and white apart from the gold 007 at the bottom of the
screen which is another iconic symbol for the movie series and also is another
connotation of fortune. The black and white is a sign of mystery as it hides
the colours and maybe even other objects in the poster that are harder to see
such as gun.
The font used for the title is very
clear and simple which means you don’t get distracted from the photo and what
it includes. The colour of the font is another connotation for the films
contents and what class the characters may be; in my opinion the rich silver
writing makes the poster as it seems to resemble everything from the location
to the story plot.
Golden Eye (1995)
This front cover is very different to the Sky Fall one because they didn't use just a photograph of the main character, but instead included other characters in the background which will also play an important role in the film just not as important as James Bond himself. We know Bond the man on the picture is the main character because he is in the centre of both of the girls suggesting he is a 'ladies man'; also shows two picture of him, one of him holding a gun and the other of him running out of fire surrounded by planes and helicopters, both of these images show that this films genre is action. Something else that suggests this movie is an action film is what it says at the bottom of the poster - "No limits, no fear, no substitutes", giving the audience an idea on how action based it will be.
The black background connotes danger and mystery, which can hint that this movie may also be a spy movie giving it an appeal to a lot more people due to the fact males are known to enjoy adrenaline rushes in which an action/spy movie create. There is also a lot of gold in the poster; in the title and the '007' sign, they may have decided to use this colour as it connotes wealth and a higher class which reflects on the characters in the movie such as James Bond and also the two female characters standing behind him as they are wearing quite formal, rich looking dresses, showing off their power and dominance; conforming to the female stereotypes that women aren't very strong and are just known as not being able to do things for them selves, whereas men are the opposite.
The clothing the women are wearing is showing the audience the type of role they play in the movie, for example the woman of the left is wearing white suggests she is innocent as the white dress connotes purity, but the woman on the right is wearing black suggesting she could possible be an antagonist and isn't so innocent because the colour black is meant to make her come across as a more confident character that isn't so innocent.
Something that may be harder to see but gives a good hint on something that will most likely be a big part of the movie is the blue outlines of different countries at the top of the poster behind the two female characters, this shows that there will probably be some sort of rivalry between different countries or something of the sort.
Goldfinger (1964)
The first thing that catches your eye when looking at this poster is the black background, just like the Goldeneye poster the black background is used as a way to show mystery. The way they have hinted that this movie is an action film is mainly in the text they used, by actually stating "James Bond is back in action", gives a massive hint that this movies genre is action. The other sentence on the poster - "Everything he touches turns to excitement", this creates an enigma because an audience would want to know who they are talking about although the first sentence makes it more obvious as Bond is an iconic character. The other thing that suggests that this movie is an action film is the second picture as it shows a gun, this object in used in every poster apart form the Dr No one, almost making it a stable piece in an action film.The colour yellow is used against the black background to make the important text stand out, such as the name 'Sean Connery' which is also an iconic name as he is the original James Bond and starred in Dr No. The gold woman in the foreground connote wealth just like the use of gold used in the more recent James Bond movies, she also relates to the title of the movie, suggesting that this movie may have female character as an innocent person that Bond needs to protect; conforming to the stereotypes of the roles of males and females.
The font used is very bold and clear, all of it is also in capitals to create a sense of excitement for the film. It appears that they decided to make the title bolder than the other texts on the poster to help it stand out as it has been placed at the bottom of the poster after "James Bond is back", making that text more important and using it as a unique selling point to a wide audience of males and females; the males would be excited about the action and the girls would be attracted to the main character playing Bond because the first film was such a success; these unique selling points benefits the films popularity.
Dr.No (1962)This is the oldest James Bond poster I am evaluating, it is also very different to the others because they didn't make it obvious what genre this movie may be, I personally feel as though it is conforming more to the conventions of romance instead of action due to the lack of signs that link to action and how the characters are presented. The girl on the right has been captured as quite femanine and weak; the clothing suggests this as she is wearing white/pale pink which connotes innocence just like the woman on the left in the Goldeneye poster.
The only signs in this poster that are hinting that this movie is an action/adventure film is the writing at the top which says "introducing Ian Flemings master spy, James Bond 007 in his first motion picture adventure! He's licensed to kill...". The use of words such as 'master spy' and licensed to kill' gives an appeal to the target audience as it creates excitment. It would also create excitments because movies were a bigger deal around the time this came out because everyone was still taking in film and cinema. One other sign there is that this movie is action based is the photograph of the girl and Bond running in the centre, showing them running away from something or someone. Looking closer into this image you can see the background is showing a swimming pool which shows wealth to the characters because they are placed by it.
An antagonist type character is presented in the poster at the bottoms, I feel this could be the antagonist because of the object he is holding - a cage, although I think this, he is dressed in similar clothes to Bond which suggests that he could be a good character that the audience will like.
The use of colours is interesting in this poster as they aren't an obvious choice to use for this genre, the blue in this image connotes sorrrow but because of the background image seems to be based in an exotic country, it changes the idea on why they used blue as the main colour making it feel like it is relating to the location and weather; it also helps the red title stand out a lot more. Putting 'Dr.No' in red connotes danger and fear but also love, which gives a wider idea on the plot and atrracts a much bigger audience because females tend to enjoy watching romance movies whereas males enjoy action/adventure. Font wise, they have used a very similar one to the other posters, almost as though they have set a theme for the movies series.
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