Showing posts with label Conventions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conventions. Show all posts

Friday, 12 December 2014

'End of trailers' Deconstruction:

We were unsure what to include in our final ending screen so I looked at the last ten seconds of a couple of psychological thriller trailers to see how they finished the trailer and what they chose to be their last shots.

Gone Girl:



The trailer ends with the intense build up of sound until the final moments where it slows down as there is a underwater shot of the missing woman and a off-screen voiceover from the lead character - "I did not kill my wife. I am not a murderer" with an operatic harmony in the background. The title of the film then slowly fades in with the release date replacing it a few seconds later on a background of an establishing shot by the sea.




Nightcrawler:



I have already done a blog post deconstructing the teaser trailer for Nightcrawler and also the ending, but I think the way it builds up so much to suddenly go silent (during the shot of him looking at the camera) is a really effective technique which I hope to embed into our trailer. The repetitive ticking noise then returns as the film title and release date come up before the screen goes black with a drum booming sound. I like the unnerving effect that the sudden calmness after the intense action can have on the audience and I feel it will be ideal for our trailer to include it to follow genre conventions of a psychological thriller.




Lucy 2:




In the teaser trailer for Lucy 2, I feel the typography is quite simple but it doesn't come across as effective as maybe planned. However, in the final moments the audience are reminded about the protagonist and the famous actress who portrays her which we invite a lot of people to see it. I really like the extreme close up of her eyes when they are the unnatural bright blue colour, signifying the psychological element of the film. This is then followed with a quick glimpse of her looking above her sunglasses, directly at the audience and it appears she is in disguise as she looks 'normal', despite her extraordinary brain abilities. The sound used at the beginning was more metallic and resembled machinery but then it changed to fast paced wind instruments which created tension, but didn't actually build up that much.






Inception:



In the trailer for Inception, the title is formed from a birds eye view of a group of buildings, cleverly placed to turn into a maze background with the title as gaps in the maze. There is no dialogue in this trailer just repetitive, tension building music until the end where cinematic boom sound effects signal a transition between credits. I really like this idea and feel like it could work at the end of our trailer.






In terms of how our trailer should end, I like the idea of the tension building up to the reveal of the title and then a small shot afterwards (like in Lucy 2 above) as I feel like this can often be a common feature with teaser trailers. I then feel like we definitely need to include something about when the film will be released, either the actual release date, the season like 'September 2015' or just a 'Coming Soon' screen. The music should build up to the reveal of the title and then I think either dropping to silence afterwards or a repetitive noise would work quite well.

Sunday, 12 October 2014

Trailer Deconstructions:

We were asked to research and deconstruct two trailers of our chosen genre, in our case psychological thriller, one has to conform and one has to subvert the genre conventions only looking at sound and editing.

The Machinist: (2004)




  • low ominous non diegetic music in the background, builds up with drums and regular beats
  • music suddenly becomes more dramatic as the speed of editing increases, sounds more classical instruments
  • diegetic work noises, saw, possible knife slashes?
  • dark neutral colours interrupted by flashes of bright light
  • edited so it looks slightly faded, weird effect adds to psychological impact
  • no bright colours at all - shows the darkness and intensity of the film
  • high pitched whirring noise contrasts with the low rumbling
  • tagline, main actors name and film title are main credits included in trailer, simplistic white font on black background



LOCKE: (2014)




I chose this trailer as it challenges conventions by only having one location/setting for the whole trailer which lasts 1.30 minutes.

  • whole trailer shows main character driving a car
  • one shot at beginning of an urban city area - shows location
  • has to rely on sound and editing to excite/intrigue the viewer as no change in character or location
  • editing is mainly different shots and clips of the main character speaking and driving
  • interrupted with reviews of the film, bright lighting on a black background contrasts against the rest of the trailer
  • set at night so lighting is very low-key and mostly dark colours are used
  • sound is mostly voice-overs and conversations where he is on the phone 
  • non diegetic music is continuous throughout the trailer low ominous rumbling noise which builds up slightly to the end
  • slow pace of shots, longer between change of angles

Monday, 8 September 2014

Conventions of film

Film opening 
The ritual
Production companies introduced normally two one major and a smaller/independent one.
Actors names
Can include flash backs
Narration
Opening scene before the title comes up
Main characters introduced
Reveals what genre/sub-genre the film is to the audience through sound, typography and lighting

Theatrical trailer
22 jump street
Includes date of when the film is coming out
Extended narrative of the film explained
Key characters introduced
Normally 2 minutes or longer

Teaser Trailer
The hunger games
Between 30-60 seconds in length
Introduces main characters but does not give away the whole narrative.
Normally does not have a date that the film will come out on.
Can contain scenes that are not in the actual film if the director decides to cut that scene.
Normally only made for large budget films

Comes out a long time before the actual film comes out up to a year and a half before the film

Sunday, 24 August 2014

Genre Investigation

I researched into the different sub-categories that are included in horror films and also the common conventions found within urban drama films.

Horror

Slashers.

  • usually involve a psychopathic killer.
  • stalking involved.
  • killing a sequence of victims in a violent manner. 
  • often has a tool/weapon of choice.
  • the killer is usually masked.
  • lots of blood and gore.
  • Examples: 'Friday the 13th' and 'the Texas chainsaw massacre'.
Gothic.
  • may have a romance that develops within the horror film.
  • elements of both goth and horror.
  • Examples: 'Let me in'.
Psychological.
  • relies on characters' fears, guilt, beliefs, emotional instability.
  • eerie sound effects.
  • 'facing demons'.
  • mystery contained which builds tension throughout the film.
  • emotive.
  • contains plot twists.
  • relies heavily on the main characters' psychological state.
  • Examples: 'shutter island'.
Supernatural/Paranormal.
  • demonic presence, e.g. demons, ghosts.
  • possession.
  • usually stars a 'normal' family at the beginning or 'normal' characters.
  • mystery and suspense.  
  • lots of non-diegetic sounds e.g. doors and floorboards creaking. 
  • themes including ghosts, spirits, demons etc.
  • Examples: 'Insidious' and 'the exorcist'
Thriller.
  • narrative to create enigma and make the audience jump.
  • quiet scenes with sudden diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.
  • suspense and anticipation.
  • may be located an isolated place.
  • a mix of slow and fast paced editing to create tension.
  • Examples: 'the cabin in the woods'.
Science Fiction.
  • often deals with paranormal elements.
  • not just limited to scientists and experiments.
  • can deal with the fear to technology.
  • Examples: 'alien and the mist'.
Zombie.
  • portray viral, reliving corpses or mindless humans.
  • tension and suspense.
  • apocalypse. 
  • Examples: 'night of the living dead' and 'day of the dead'.

Urban Drama.
  • drugs and weapons e.g. knives, guns etc.
  • main character will usually be from a troubled background and/or dysfunctional family.
  • gang violence.
  • lots of tracking shots. 
  • typically filmed in a run down, urban area e.g. London estates.
  • main character is typically young and male.
  • lots of diegetic sounds.
  • colloquial dialect spoken between characters.
  • non-diegetic sound used mainly for transitions of fade as memories or flashbacks.
  • Examples: 'adulthood' and 'fighting'.




Monday, 14 July 2014

Conventions of Film Openings and Trailers

I looked into three categories of a film opening, a theatrical trailer and a teaser trailer to allow us to see what their conventions are so that we can conform to those of a teaser trailer when creating our own.

Film Opening.
  • better narrative than a theatrical trailer
  • introduction
  • introduction to main characters
  • will contain opening titles, producer, main actors, editing etc.
  • longer shots
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvZXGu-TFY&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgCejsyS0t8&safe=active


Theatrical Trailer.
  • thorough narrative
  • longer shots than a teaser trailer but shorter than the film opening
  • longer, usually around two and a half minutes
  • Shown closer to the release date of the film 
  • Contains more footage of the film  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBwsUD7jYCI&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iaYLCiq5RM&safe=active


Teaser Trailer.

  • short shots
  • Faster paced transitions between shots
  • enigmas
  • Released before the theatrical trailer
  • Will only last for around a minute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuXkXJ1fPuk&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_9-3Fj3ZdI&safe=active