My chosen genre.

After looking at several different trailers and their conventions, I have decided that the genre of my trailer will be horror. I will include lots of conventions in the trailer so that my audience will be able to pick up on the genre. Some of the conventions of horror trailers that I will include will be: dark and brief shots, quick paced editing, creepy/intense music, tension and seclusion, and the resolution unknown which will leave the audience asking questions.

Horror films are designed to elicit all kinds of emotions from the audience such as fear, terror and horror. Many horror films have similar plots that include themes such as death, the supernatural or mental illness. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. Some horror films also include elements from other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, black comedy, and thrillers.

Horror films have been around since the 1890’s when the first depictions of supernatural events appeared in the form of short, silent movies. The early 20th century brought the first monster to appear in a full-length horror film, Quasimodo. In the early 1930s American film producers, such as Universal Pictures, popularised the horror film, creating a series of successful Gothic films including Dracula and Frankenstein. In the 1950’s the tone of horror films shifted away from the gothic, towards concerns that some saw as being more relevant to the late-Century audience. The horror film began to fall into three sub-genres:
• the horror-of-personality film; these are films that evoke horror through villains that are human but have horrific personalities, as opposed to a supernatural being.
• the horror-of-armageddon film; this type of film attempts to signify the end of the world, or at least the end of the world as we know it, owing some horrific event.
• the horror-of-the-demonic film; this type of film often features an antagonist that is supernatural.
Films of the horror-of-personality sub-genre continued to appear throughout the centuries, with 1991's The Silence of the Lambs as an example.

The horror movie received a huge revival in the late 70’s, early 80’s. More films started referring to the occult such as The Exorcist. Also, “evil children” and reincarnation became popular subjects. The success of the horror genre in the 70’s and early 80’s died in the late 80’s and throughout most of the 90’s. Many horror films caused controversy because of the ease of availability to children, therefore many films were dubbed as "video nasties" and where banned. The horror genre had worn itself out with the nonstop slasher and gore films in the 70’s and 80’s. The adolescent audience of the previous decade grew up, and the replacement audience was being captured instead by the explosion of science-fiction and fantasy. To re-connect with its audience horror became more self-mockingly ironic. An example would be the parody hit Scream, along with I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend. They made the horror genre, once again, extremely popular.

The start of the 2000s saw a quiet period for the genre. The re-release of a restored version of The Exorcist in September 2000 was successful despite the film having been available on home video for years. Final Destination marked a successful revival of clever, teen-centered horror, as well as the Jeepers Creepers series. Some notable trends to horror films in the 2000s are:
• the emergence of remakes of Asian horror movies, such as The Ring, and The Grudge.
• the major return of the zombie genre in horror movies.
• the larger trend is the return to the extreme, graphic violence; films like Audition, Wrong Turn, and Wolf Creek. An extension of this trend was horror with depictions of torture, suffering and violent deaths, with films like Saw, and Hostel, and their sequels.

Textual analysis of existing texts, comparison across genres.

The Notebook

The Notebook was realised in 2004 and features some very well know actors such as Rachel McAdams and James Garner.

The trailer opens with the logo of the production company for the film, New Line Cinema which is a subsidiary company of Time Warner. As soon as the trailer starts the type of genre can be identified by the soft and romantic music played. As soon as the production logo has been showed it cuts straight into an establishing shot, of a rowing boat on a river with swans flying over head and a beautiful white house in the background. This confirms the audiences’ beliefs from the music, that the genre of the film is definitely romance.

A voiceover then begins to tell the equilibrium of the story, which is a convention in film trailers, to inform the audience of how the film starts. It also sets the scene and ideas of the story before the disruption and quest have begun. However not all trailers have the use of a voiceover to help do this, some use text or visual language, such as montage editing. As the voiceover begins there are several shots from the film that slowly fade into each other, helping the voiceover show the equilibrium. After the first few shots you see that the voice over is in fact a character from the film, he is reading the story. You therefore realise it is not a voiceover but instead scenes from the film, pieced carefully together to help set the story without giving too much away.

The trailer uses some longer clips; at 0.18 it has a twenty second clip from the film, this gives the audience more of an understanding of the roles the characters play and helps illustrates the basic plot as the story starts to unravel more. Montage editing is then used again, with the different shots slowly fading into one another. This gives the whole trailer a very peaceful, relaxing feeling along with the slow, soft music in the background.

At 0.55 the disruption sets in, the two young characters are very much in love which has been demonstrated throughout the trailer so far, however it then becomes apparent that the boy is not in the same social class and earns little money and this causes problems. The match does not have the approval of her parents and the girl is not allowed to see him anymore.

At 1.12 the use of a deep and powerful voiceover is used. It is a conventional voiceover as the deep, clear to understand voice is easily recognised by audiences as similar voices are used in many trailers and this makes the audience feel more comforted. Voiceovers are only used when explanation is necessary, for something that cannot be shown through visual language or perhaps advertisers just feel that a voiceover is more of an effective way of getting audience understanding. The voiceover informs audiences that the film is from “the bestselling novel” by Nicholas Sparks. This is another convention of film trailers as it will help sell the film if it has previously been a book because if someone has read it they will want to watch the film and also vice versa. It then shows clips from the film of a war setting. This shows that the disruption has happened and it is not all as simple as when the story began. The use of this clip also allows audiences to have a rough idea of what time period the film is set in.

Another character is then introduced and he has fallen in love with the girl also. He is shown to be the “ideal” man for her just as her parents would have wished. The editing then becomes sharper and faster with stronger, more powerful music. The voiceover is used again; he does not give too much away but allows audiences to know what the story is about. “..comes a story about...what we long for...what we settled for...and who we’re meant for” In between each statement different clips from the film are used, all very powerful which help to further explain the narration and what the voiceover said. It is not necessary for the voiceover to say a lot because the use of powerful and emotional clips helps to convey the plot. However it has all carefully been placed together to leave audiences wondering, who does she choose? It does not give away the resolution.

Another convention then used it the names of the actors and actresses in the film, this is often used if they are well known actors. If audiences see an actor or actress in it they recognise from another film it might entice them to go and see it even more. Also the name of the director is stated. All of these things are conventions that are very often found in film trailers. Then at the ending of the trailer the name of the film is announced followed by small text stating again the director, film title, production company and other information. However this is not shown for long. “Coming soon” is then shown which is how most trailers end or by a release date. The total length of the trailer is 2:16.

Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat is a completely different genre to The Notebook, however after watching it I have noticed several similarities between the two trailers as well as some differences.

At the start of the trailer the production company logo is showed as it was in The Notebook. It was produced by Universal, which is a major film company. It was released in 2009 and features Vince Vaughn and Kristin Davis, along with many other famous names.

After the logo has been shown dialogue from the film begins, and then two men talking are shown. Their dialogue begins to set the narrative of the plot and then an upbeat, bright and breezy song starts. It again helps sets the tone of the film and gives clues to the genre of the film. Unlike The Notebook there is no voiceover in this trailer. Instead, text is used to help enhance the audiences understanding of the plot of the film. Brief moments from different scenes are shown in between each title screen. The different clips use close ups and medium shots to show and introduce the different characters. After seeing a few seconds you soon realise that it is a romantic comedy, due to the jokes and content already seen.

Once the audience have seen most of the main characters the plot begins to unfold even more around 0.42, when the audience become aware that the film will revolve around the couples going away on holiday to what is referred to as “Disneyland for adults”. The music from the beginning of the trailer fades out and another lively song starts as a change in scenery happens. The couples arrive at the resort and the disruption soon begins. At 1.00, the couples realise that the holiday package they have booked means they have to do couples skill building and therapy. The music change is key again as the disruption happens and the couples have to begin their quest to sort out their marriages and problems. The lyrics of the words also reflect what is happening, “Let it go, give in, give up, surrender”. Appropriate song lyrics are also used many times in film trailers, or if a song doesn’t have lyrics the music reflects the genre and mood of the film.

Several clips are then shown from the film in a montage. In the notebook once the disruption had happened and the quest had begun, moving and emotional scenes where shown. However in this trailer funny scenes are depicted, even though different styles of montage are used both trailers use memorable or key parts to the film that the creators believe will help sell the film. The music then becomes more powerful and faster montage editing is used as the couples begin to try and solve all their problems. Throughout the trailer the use of text is still being used. The resolution is not given away as audiences do not know how the holiday ends, in disaster or all being well. However it does not leave such a big question in audiences’ minds as perhaps the trailer for the notebook would as it is not as serious or as emotional. At 2.22 the title of the film is shown, with a voiceover announcing the name of it. This is the first time a voice over is used throughout the trailer. Like The Notebook the film then ends with a title screen saying “Coming Soon”. This trailer was a similar length also lasting 2.30.

Amityville Horror

Amityville Horror was released in 2005 by Dimension Films, which is a subsidiary company of The Weinstein Company, and was originally the Miramax Films division. All of the trailers I have looked at have had well known film companies producing them, therefore making it extremely important that their logo is included in the trailer. Audiences then know that the film has been produced by a well known trustworthy company. It might also give them a clue as to what the film will be like, if they have seen previous films by the same company they will know what standard and type of film to expect. Again the company logo is shown at the very start of the trailer.

Once the logo has been shown an establishing shot is used to help set the scene for audiences. Bright shots and light music are used to show that everything is normal and in balance, this opening scene shows the equilibrium. Dialogue from the film is used to help audiences understand what the film is about. The diegetic sound tells audiences that the couple on screen are looking to buy a house in the area that the establishing shot showed. A shot of the house is then showed for a brief moment. The screen then fades to black showing a date and location name, this gives the audience further information, it tells them when and where it is set. The continuing use of dialogue and continuity editing helps establish more of the story for the viewer.

At 0.23seconds into the trailer the disruption is introduced, this is the second part of the trailer and extends the story further without giving too much away. Audiences then become aware there was a murder in the house, hence the building being for sale. The music then changes dramatically to darker, spookier music; by this point in the trailer it has become clear the genre of the film is horror.

From 0.25 to 0.35 montage editing is used, short clips from the film give the audience a brief idea about the murders that had previously been committed in the house. A long shot of the house is then used, but this time it shows the house in a different light to the shot previously used in the trailer, it is dark and scary looking. Audiences immediately know something is wrong with the house. A title screen then lets audiences know the story is being further developed, “What happened over the next 28 days, has never been explained”. A home video is then shown of the family moving in despite being told about the murders, audiences are aware that this is a bad move. The disruption has now clearly been set up half way through the trailer.

A long sequence of montage editing is then used to help continue establish the story. The montage uses lots of brief shots in order not to give away too much. There are a variety of different shots used, but mainly medium and close up shots to show emotion on the characters faces. Each shot fades to black adding to the sense of darkness, secrecy and seclusion. This sequence of montage editing reveals more about what happened to the family before and shows the events might start repeating themselves with this new family; however it does not give too much away. This part of the trailer shows the quest, the family having to overcome the events. The shots get quicker and quicker creating a tense atmosphere and sense of urgency. The use of symbols is repeated a few times throughout the trailer. A clock is always shown showing the time 3:15; this allows audiences to guess what is happening at this time but gives them a clue that it is linked between the two families. Also the symbol of a cross is used in several shots, this adds to the sense of the horror genre.

At 1.57 in the middle of the montage sequence a title screen is used to show the name of the producer, it also says that he is the producer of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If a viewer has seen Chainsaw Massacre it might entice them to also come and see this film if they enjoyed his previous work. At 2.20 the name of the film is shown followed by the credits and finally “Coming soon”. The resolution is not shown and leaves audiences wondering what is going to happen to the family. The trailer is a total of 2.30, similar to the two previous trailers.

Conventions of film trailers.

Film trailers are supposed to tell the story of the movie in a minimum amount of time but have maximum appeal. They are able to show even the poorest of movies in an attractive light and make audiences want to go and watch them. Trailers are used to advertise all genres and sub genres of films. Even though films might have different target audiences and be completely different in terms of plot, the trailers will have similar structures. Most trailers have a three act structure, similar to a film.
Act 1) They start with a beginning that illustrates the basis of the plot.
Act 2) The middle part extends the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax, still not giving away too much.
Act 3) This part of the trailer usually features a strong piece of music and consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments from the film. Also if the cast in the film are famous or well known their names are normally placed in this act to help sell the movie.

As well as the three acts structure there is the basic narrative structure which follows a similar pattern to the three act structure. The basic narrative structure starts with equilibrium; this is when the diegesis is in balance. This is then disturbed with a disruption, followed by a quest and finally a resolution. A simple example would be; a good guy and bad guy, everything is settled and how it should be (the equilibrium), then the bad guy robs a bank (the disruption), the good guy then has to set it right and catch the bad guy to get it back to the equilibrium (quest) and finally everything is solved (the resolution), however the resolution is never given away in a trailer, it leaves audiences guessing. This is a simple, traditional, linear structure that has a cause and effect. Not all films follow this pattern, as some do not have a resolution. However the majority of films do use a linear structure and this is also shown in their film trailers.

Not only do film trailers follow similar structures they also have other similar features such as voiceovers and music. Voiceover narration is often used to briefly set up the idea of the film and provide explanation when necessary, for example, “In a world...”. Trailers are a highly condensed format of the film therefore a voiceover is sometimes used to help the audiences understanding of the plot.
Music helps set the tone and mood of the trailer. Sometimes the music used is not in the film itself. The music from the trailer may be:
· Music from the score of other films.
· Popular or well known music.
· Especially composed music, one of the most famous trailer music composers is John Beal, who has created original music for over 2000 trailers.
· “Library” music, which has been previously composed specifically to be used in advertising.

I am going to look at several different film trailers to see what other conventions are used in trailers. I will look at more than one genre of film trailer to see how they are similar and how they differ.

History of film trailers.

Film trailers are designed to entice the target audience. A film trailer does not give too much away but just enough to get the audience gripped and leave them wanting to watch the film when it’s released. Trailers consist of a series of selected shots from the film being advertised. Since the purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience, usually the most exciting, funny or noteworthy parts of the film are used in the trailer but only short parts so there are no spoilers. A trailer has to attract the audience’s attention in less than two and a half minutes. This is the maximum time allowed by cinemas. However, each studio is allowed to exceed the time limit once I year if they feel it is necessary for a particular film.

The term “trailer” originated because they used to be shown at the end of a film. However, this practice did not last long because audiences used to leave at the end of films. Trailers are now shown before the film, but the name has stuck.

The first film trailer was shown in a US cinema in November 1913. The advertising manager for the Marcus Loew theatre chain, Nils Granlund, produced a short promotional film for the musical “The Pleasure Seekers”. Granlund was also first to introduce trailers for motion pictures using a slide technique. Only the highest profile films had trailers made for them because production companies could only be bothered to spend the extra effort and money with films they thought would be most popular. However, nowadays, every film has a trailer made for it.
Up until the late 1950s, trailers consisted of various key scenes from the film being advertised and descriptive text describing the story. Most trailers had some form of narration and feature powerful voiceovers.
In the early 1960s, textless, quick-editing and montage trailers became popular and the face of motion picture trailers changed!

G324 Advanced Portfolio in Media. Brief and LIIAR.

For my media portfolio, main task, i have chosen to produce a film trailer. I will research the history of film trailers and analyse existing ones to help me look at the conventions and features that appear in film trailers. After i have done all my reasearch and planning i will start my production and evalutation. I will also complete two ancillary texts that will link and help promote my main product. I will follow a set brief:

A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the film;
• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
• a poster for the film.

To help me develop my ideas and look at how the media concepts can be applied to a film trailer I am going to use the acronym “LIIAR”; language, institution, ideology, audience and representation.

Language- The language of my film trailer will be a key factor. It is very important that I get the language right, in order for it to be received by my target audience, and address them in the correct way. The language I use will include things such as a voice over to help set the equilibrium, or sometimes captions come up to help set the story. Ideas about the disruption and quest are given also, sometimes again with the help of a voice over or visual language, such as a montage of clips from the film. A trailer is there to introduce the audience to the film and tell them what the story is about but without giving away the resolution.

Institution- The production company of my initial film will be the institution. Some examples of film production companies are; Fox Entertainment, Paramount Motion Pictures, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner, Walt Disney Motion Pictures. Each of these major film companies consist of many subsidiary film companies. For example some of Walt Disney Motion Pictures subsidiary companies are; Pixar Animation Studios, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films, Spyglass Entertainment and many more.

Ideology- The ideology is a set of ideas, morals and values within the trailer. The ideology of my trailer will depend on the genre of the film. A horror film will have different ideology to a romantic comedy because they will have a different target audience. However they will all have similar ideas, for example, all film trailers are created to intrigue the target audience and make them want to watch the film. Other things in the ideology will include conventions that are used within trailers such as the names of famous actors that appear in the film, production company, release date etc. All of these conventions will help inform the audience about the film and make them want to go and see it.

Audience- The audience depends very much on the genre of the film trailer. For example horror films are aimed at both males and females but perhaps more at males. They also tend to have a higher certification because of the content put in them, such as violence and gore. Therefore their target audience is usually older teenagers and adults. Romantic comedies are aimed at females aged from around 15 years upwards. The audience for my film trailer will therefore depend entirely on what genre my film is.

Representation- Like audience, the representation in my trailer will depend on the genre of my trailer and who my target audience are. The issues in the storyline and characters in my product must represent the genre of my trailer. For example in horror films there are stereotypical characters such as a scary villain, a victim or group of victims who usually end up walking straight into the traps of the villain. By having stereotypical characters, locations, such as a dark and haunted house, and storylines represent the genre, and audiences know immediately what genre the film is.