Anaylisis Of A Trailer

Horror Films- Analysis of a trailer

The House At The End Of The Street

A trailer is a very important part in the release of a film. How do you expect people to see it unless they are captivated by the advertisment, and a big part of the advertisment is the trailer.

I went to see The House At The End Of The Street last weekend and I thought it was excellent. It had a mix of horror and humour and had a brilliant twist at the end. However, I would not have gone to see this film if I hadn't watched the trailer first, and been captured by the film already.

This trailer is good because it gives an eary and mysterious feel to the film. The trailer starts out with main character, played by Jennifer Laurence, in danger, looking roughed up and scared. This is backed up by mysterious and scary music immediatley captivating the person watching it.
It then goes on to show clips which tell you more about the film, and how her and her mother moved to this house, next door to another house where a young girl murdered both of her parents giving a bit of background to the film, allowing the audience to understand a bit more about the film.
Overall the trailer gives enough information for it to still be a mystery as to what happens in the film, and yet also includes snippets of exciting part of scenes making you want to see it.
Music was also a big part, giving an eerie atmosphere to the trailer and making it succesful.

Sub-Genres
A Sub-Genre is a subcategory within a partciular genre. For example if you have an action comedy it'd be an action film with a large amount of comedy in it too, for example, Kill Bill.

Romantic Comedy Films- Analysis of a trailer

Knocked Up

Knocked Up is one of those films you will laugh and you will cry at: a typical Rom-Com. Someone like me doesn't just randomly watch a film, I have to watch the trailer first, and like I said before, the trailer of a film is very important for the release.
The Ugly Truths trailer, if you watch it now, is already hilariously funny. It puts very humorous clips of the scene in it, which makes the audience want to watch more.
The trailer also shows a good ammount of the trailer which is always good, as giving too much away will make the audience not want to see it.
From the trailer, this film is a clear obvious romantic comedy, with a brilliant story line, and the trailer really shows this.

Conventions of Genres

Horror Films - the dialogue in horror films is always very mysterious and scary. People in it often say things that will make your heart jump and scare you.
The camera work is also very interesting, using close ups to really capture the reaction to scary things. Characters are normally either a boy or a girl, or a group of friends who are out to solve a mystery or are trapped in a situation they cannot get out of. The plot is also very cliche. There is usually a house or a scary forest or a possible exorcism in the stories, and a lot of characters usually die.
Comedy films - the dialogue in comedy films is usually very funny and not too serious. They are never too naturalistic in things like comedies, as it adds to the humour of it. Camera work is very standard depending on how neccasary everything is. They'll do a close up when needed and a long shot when needed etc. Characters are also very typical in films like comedies. There always is a main character who has a funny friend and a sensible friend. They always have a funny things to do and are very memorable characters too. The plot is also some sort of problem they have to resolve however it is also a very humorous and not too serious.

21st September 2012 - Narrative Conventions

Vladimir Propp’s Theory of Narrative

Vladimir Propp suggested that characters took on the role of narrative 'spheres of action' or functions. From a comprehensive study of folktales Propp came up with seven different character types:

Here is my 'Mean Girls' example:

Hero: Miss Norberry - A mathematics teacher and the high school, who goes through struggles with her students, however in the end she manages to put everything right and forgive those who done wrong to her,

Villain: Regina George – The ‘popular’ girl at high school, who although is pretty much famous at her school, she is also a devious backstabber, who stirred a lot, and hurt a lot of people.

Donor: Mr Duvall – The head teacher of the school, who helps Miss Norberry sort everything out.

Helper: Aaron Samuels – A popular football player at the school, who in the film, explains the problems to the head teacher and is on the good side.

The Victim: Janice Ian, Damian, other students – All these people had been victimised by Regina George at some point during their high school life, which caused a big down fall on their lives.

Dispatcher: Mr Duvall – He sends Miss Norberry on the task to help the high school girls.

False Hero: Cady - who at the beginning is appeared to be an innocent young girl, however turns into something completely different.

21st September 2012 - Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov

Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:

1. a state of equilibrium at the outset
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption
4. an attempt to repair the disruption
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium

This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many ‘mainstream’ film narratives.

My Example of Tzvetan Todorov

Stand By MeA state of equilibrium at the outset:The scene starts of mysterious, with a field and then a man, looking like he’s thinking. This would make the audience interested, and make them feel as though this man has a story to tell. He goes on to tell a story, and with this story comes a flash back of him and his friends, and their adventure that is yet to come. They decide to go and find a dead body, and that is what they do.

A disruption of the equilibrium by some action: The distribution is when the older bully’s decide to also find the body. This allows the audience to come to a realization that the boys are going to be in trouble.

A recognition that there has been a disruption:The older boys approach the younger boys just as they find the body. The younger boys get scared.

An attempt to repair the disruption:One of the boys mocks the older boys, disempowering them in the film

Films.

Films.

Films are a big part of media and as part of my protfolio I will have to make a 5 minute snippet of a film and an opening sequence to a film I have written.
To help me do this I need to think about some of my favourite films that could influence me.

Action -

Kill Bill

Adventure-
Stand By Me

Comedy-

The Hangover

I like these films because they have the right ammount of action adventure and emotion in them, which is what I believe makes a truley good film.



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Hello.

My name is Ella and I study Media Studies at Sir Clive Bourne Sixth Form. I'm an enthusiastic girl who has a strong interest in social networking, film, TV, radio, and advertising in general. I believe taking media studies could be a great oppurtunity for me to pursue it in the future.
This blog has been made to post updates on my projects, thoughts and feelings about studying media and will end up being part of my portfolio.