The Possession - Supernatural trailer

I think the target audience for this film would be 15-24, as it is a supernatural horror, and teenagers mostly do enjoy being scared by a film. I think this film could be for males or females, as both genders do enjoy horror films. Some of the features that are appealing to the target audience would be the fast paced scenes and darkness, as everything is always more scary when it is in complete darkness due to the fact that you can’t see everything in the shot and anything could be lurking. Another feature that is appealing could be the family, as you are supposed to feel safe being with your family, but in the trailer it makes you nervous. 

At the start of the trailer there is an establishing shot, which shows the location of where the film will take place and what the house and surroundings look like. This may be to show the audience that the house is kind of scary looking to begin with, and it is surrounded by trees so quite isolated, therefore making it more of a scary location compared to a flat or semi-detached house in a clear area. We then see close up and mid shots of all the characters, to establish who's story we will be following and who the film will be based around. Accompanied to this is quite slow, repetitive chilling music, which sets a tense feeling. Along with the music is the characters talking, who are all laughing and joking around, which makes the audience think nothing bad is going to happen, but the chilling music suggests something is.

Following on from this, we see the characters go to a 'yard sale' where one of the children find a wooden box, and are interested by it so decide to buy it, which leads the audience to wonder what could be in that box. The 'Dad' character then tells his daughter 'whoever made this didn't want anyone to open it' to which the daughter finds a way too. By the Dad telling his daughter it wasn't supposed to be opened, it makes the audience wonder 'why not?' and what could be so bad inside it that it shouldn't be opened, encouraging the audience to continue to watch it to find out what is inside it and what will happen. 

As the daughter starts taking small objects out of the box, the music turns very silent, and a faint banging can be heard, which is much more chilling than the music at the start. The intertitle 'based on a true story' then comes onto the screen which is frightening to the audience as the story being shown has actually happened to someone, and by knowing this the audience are persuaded to watch the actual film to find out what happened to a family because of a box. 

The scene then follows onto various short, quick scenes of different family members talking with a fork banging on a plate in the background. As the scenes progress we see the girl who opened the box forcibly 'shoving' loads of food in her mouth and banging her fork, with a faint sound of whispering in the background, this makes the audience wonder where the voices are coming from and whether the box has done something to her. There is then a mid shot of the girl and the dad's hand where she stabs him with the fork. There is then quick shots of the girl and the dad which show him in pain, but since they are so short the audience do not fully know what is happening. 

The next scene is quite dark with only blinds letting in light, with the box on the windowsill. As the camera focuses on the box it slowly opens. There are then many quick shots of the dad asking religious people what is happening, and the daughter ending up in dark places doing unnatural things like standing in a deserted petrol station with bats flying down her throat etc. 

There are various intertitles like 'This August' 'Darkness' 'Lives' 'Inside' which follow onto people with parts of their skin sticking out, like there is something inside them. The scenes change really quickly which makes the audience unknowing of what is happening, and the music turns to what sounds like many people whispering something over and over. The music is very frightening which sets a feeling of fear deep inside the audience member, and since the scenes are so quick they want to watch the film to find out where the scenes are in the actual film.

Just Go With It - Romance trailer

Intertitles are quite common in this trailer. From the very start there is an intertitle 'every guy has an angle' which intrigues the audience to find out who this guy is and what his angle is, making the audience want to continue to watch to find out a bit more about him. It then follows on with 'and this...' 'is Danny's.' From this point the audience know his name and what he looks like, and what his angle is, so they are encouraged to keep watching to find out how he uses this angle of his. 'But this February' 'It's about to get real.' These intertitles give us an idea of when it will come out, and also that there is going to be a twist to his angle as we see him meet a girl he really likes who finds his angle of having a wedding ring. 'From the producers of Grown Up's' tells us another successful film by this company, so we are encouraged to see if the film is just as good as 'Grown Up's.' Towards the end of the trailer the intertitles 'Once you start a lie... It's hard to stop' appears which informs us that he has created a huge lie that he has to keep going with or she will find out what he is really like and dump him. From the intertitles, we learn quite a lot about the character and his situation, and also about his 'sidekick' which is also his receptionist/dental nurse.

The genre of this film is romantic comedy. This is obvious to the audience as it is focused around a girl and boy, and to do with relationships and struggles within a relationship. It is also a comedy as there are humorous parts to it, and the dialogue from the characters is also that of a humorous nature. It is also known to be a comedy as the different way he describes his 'wife' at the beginning of the trailer, are ridiculous ways to make the audience laugh. 'My wife beats me in front of my kids.'

The pace of this trailer is quite fast at the beginning with quick shots of women and a wedding ring, to emphasise the main focus of the trailer, following on with longer shots of conversation scenes and different women that he is talking too and flirting with at clubs. The shots are not particularly fast so we are able to establish characters and their relationships with each other in order to understand the film more. By the shots being longer, we also discover how he makes his lie believable, and who he sucks into his lie with him. They are also humorous being longer as we see silly stuff being done by the characters, like his 'wife' talking to 'their kids' on the phone, which was not originally part of his lie which makes the trailer more appealing to the audience as they want to see the progression throughout the actual film.

At the beginning of this trailer, there is a high angle shot to show the location of a club which is effective as it can be a typical place where boy meets girl. Following on in the trailer there are close ups of faces and his wedding ring to show the audience who the main characters are, and his main weapon within the lie, which is the fake wedding ring. A lot of the shots throughout are mid shots, as it shows conversations and characters so that the audience are fully involved in what the characters are talking about and their facial expressions. There are a few close ups when his 'wedding ring' is concerned and some long shots to show locations and people together, as it helps give the audience a feel for where the characters are so we are able to feel what the character would be feeling. For example when they have the romantic night on the beach, we assume the film will show their progression within their relationship from there onwards, so generally the audience feels happy for them.

I think the target audience for this film would be females within the ages of 12-24, as there is nothing that shocking in it, to make it have to be a 15. The target audience would most likely be females as generally the male gender find romance films not to their taste, and do not enjoy the cliche 'boy meets girl' 'boy falls in love with girl' etc. I think the target audience could be anything from 12 upwards, as it is an easy film to watch, and is good for a laugh.

I think the unique selling point of this film, could be that it has quite popular/famous actors and actresses, for example Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler etc. Also that there is a big lie throughout that just keeps getting bigger and bigger until it is about to blow up, yet the characters still go along with it.

In this trailer there is a lot of dialogue throughout, as there are a lot of conversation scenes, towards the beginning being his different lies he tells women to have a night of fun, and then after he meets 'the one', the different lies he has to create with his receptionist to keep the lie alive. For example 'my wife beats me in front of my kids.' By putting short lines like this in, the audience are intrigued to see other lies he has created to catch women, so are encouraged to go to the cinema to see the full film. Through the rest of the trailer, we see the progression of the lie, and who else gets involved in it and how they try to keep it believable. For example he is getting a 'divorce' so the wedding ring was only there because of that.

At the beginning of this trailer the music is very upbeat and happy, which fits in with the jokes about 'his wife' and the wedding ring. After he meets 'the one' a love song comes on with is slow and dramatic which creates a romantic mood for the audience and shows how the characters are feeling. After she finds his wedding ring, the music changes to upbeat and funny again, as we hear how he is going to make his lie about the wedding ring believable. After 'from Columbia Pictures' the music changes again to a slow, old song so that we are completely focused on the mood and what is happening. In this trailer the music is essential as it shows us what feelings we should be feeling, and the mood we should be in.

In this trailer there is a voiceover at some points, for example towards the end where the voice says 'From Columbia Pictures' and when the actors/actresses names are being read. The effect of reading the film company and actors/actresses names out loud is that the audience fully acknowledge who is in the film and the film company, so that if they like those actors/actresses and they have done other good films in the past, the audience will want to see this film too as it should be brilliant due to those actors/actresses.

The Amazing Spiderman - Superhero trailer

‘The Amazing Spiderman’

The genre of this trailer is superhero, which is emphasised by all the building scaling and hanging upside down on train carriages. The superhero genre is also emphasised by the mysterious dark figure lifting up cars and throwing them off a bridge.

The narrative of the trailer is in chronological order, as it starts with him as a child, and continues as he grows into an adult. By doing this, we are able to understand how it all began and how ‘Spiderman’ was created, in order to keep the audience excited and involved.

The unique spelling point of this trailer is that it follows the main character through his progression from child to adult, and shows what kind of social class he is in, and what kind of social group he is in at school. By doing this, we are able to find out what kind of person he is, in order to keep us interested in the trailer.

The target audience for this film would most likely be 12 upwards and families, as there is nothing too scary or gruesome for a younger audience. It may be directed at families as it is a slightly scarier action film that young children may want to see. The gender target audience would most likely be males, as males generally prefer action films.

The music at the beginning is very sinister and creepy, which helps build suspense as the parents are leaving, it then changes to a very sad tune as 'Peter' is progressing through his life. It then turns very loud and fast paced as Peter gets bitten by a spider fits in with the lifestyle he is now living as he can do many things he couldn't do before.

The shot types and camera angles in this trailer vary. At the start they are long shots and establishing shots to show the location and setting, and then as a conversation scene comes on there is a shot/reverse shot. Throughout the trailer there are a lot of shot/reverse shots in order to show conversation scenes properly, and to show the perspective of the character as they speak. There are a few close up's to show facial expressions and emotions in order to make the audience feel how the character is feeling and also to make sure the audience know fully what they are supposed to be noticing in the film.. The shots in the trailer are quite fast paced so that the audience do not fully know what is happening in order to build suspense for the film as if the audience are not entirely sure what is happening, they will be more willing to watch the film to find out what happens next in the scenes. Towards the end there is an extreme close up to show the characters eye, which shows the audience the fright he is feeling. There are also many tracking shots so that the audience are able to follow the character through what he is doing.

The pace throughout this trailer is very fast, as the shots are quick. This ensures that the audience do not click on to everything that will happen in the film as the scenes are too quick to understand everything that happens. Also it makes the film more exciting as the audience want to find out further about everything that happens, and how it all fits in together.

There is quite a lot of dialogue in this film to tell some of the important parts of the film's storyline. For example by the Dad saying 'you're going to stay with your aunt and uncle for a while' it enables the audience to know how everything started, and question why he had to stay with his relatives and not his parents, encouraging them to watch the film. Also later on in the trailer when Peter find an old briefcase, his uncle says 'I forgot all about that, it belonged to your dad.' By using 'belonged' it suggests to the audience that his parents or just his dad died after that night that they left him, and he has been living a life without them.

Towards the end of the trailer there is a voice over. We are also seeing a first person view of how he is living his life, and what his life entails. The voiceover is very short but tells the audience that he has a secret, which makes them want to know what it is.

There are not that many special effects, but where there are they involve him jumping off building and climbing up walls etc. There are not many special effects used as the producers may have wanted to save all the dramatic scenes for the proper film to make it more special for the audience.

Throughout the trailer there are not many credits or intertitles, this may be because the main focus is on the scenes in the trailer and the music playing, and having credits and intertitles would take up time where there could be footage being shown to encourage the audience to watch it. The only information we get from the trailer is that the production company is Columbia Pictures. 

DKR, Avatar, KFP Action trailer analysis

In these three trailers, they all have a common similarity, that the genre is action. In ‘Avatar’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda’ they all follow the conventions of the action genre by having guns and explosions, which shows that there is evil at work.

These three screenshots all show similar shots of mid/long shots, and dark colouring which makes the characters involved dark and similar to that of a silhouette, in order to hide the identity of who these people are, so that the audience is more involved in the trailer as they want to know whether they are good or bad. Also by hiding the people’s faces, it may encourage the target audience to go and watch the film as they want to find out more about this person.

 



 In ‘Kung Fu Panda’ there is no love interest, which goes against the conventions of an action/adventure because there is generally a love interest in many other films of the genre. In ‘TDKR’ and ‘Avatar’ the trailers clearly display the love interest that will be involved in order to involve the audience more in the characters life, and to raise suspicions that the love interest may be the root cause of all the fighting and explosions that are going to take place. 

 

 In 'Avatar' and 'Kung Fu Panda' there is a use of exotic locations, which could be due to them being animated and CGI being used and these locations made up. The locations are effective as the audience want to see them properly as they are so different, which creates a kind of dream world for the viewers. 'TDKR' was filmed in New York which isn't exotic, but is a familiar place to many people so the buildings and locations are known to the audience. By using a familiar place, the audience are able to relate more to the film as they know where everything is happening, and want to see for themselves.

In all of the three films, there is a hero. The use of a hero is effective in action films as there has to be one person the audience can relate too and feel sorry for. Also by having a hero the audience can learn a part of their story throughout the trailer and want to go and watch the film to find out what else happens in their life. The hero encourages the audience to watch the film as in the trailer they see parts of his life, and what to learn about the rest of it.

In all trailers films there is a villian. In 'The Dark Knight Rises' Bane is the villian, and by showing parts of his destruction, it encourages the audience to watch the film to find out what started it, and to find out more about Bane and why he is how he is and what his plans of destruction are. In 'Avatar' the villian is the humans who want to destroy 'Pandora' and by showing parts of them and what they are doing, the audience want to go and watch the film to find out the end result of if they manage to destory it or get stopped. In 'Kung Fu Panda' the villian is not really shown, but just talked about. The villian is a very effective stereotype of action films as there always has to be a reason all this destruction is happening, and the audience want to see a bad guy that they can take the hero's side over. Also they make the trailers more interesting as you see scary parts that build suspense.

Film Posters

Action -

This action film poster for 'The Expendables 2' is very stereotypical of an action. The poster is very dark and dingy, apart from the orange/red spots coming from the left side, which could connotate an explosion, which is very cliche in action films. For this action film to be successful, it is essential that the audience know one of the characters and how 'tough' they look, as they are going to be fighting many different people. By putting a man with a belt and black outfit, he looks sleek like an assassin, which encourages the audience to go and watch this film as they want to know who he is, and what part he plays.

The writing for this poster is white, which stands out against the black and grey background, in order for the name to catch your eye straight away. The date it comes out is in red, which could connotate red and evil, in order to give more clues as to what may happen in the film. I think this film poster is successful in encouraging people to watch this action film, as the poster looks very exciting and eye catching, and overall it looks like a lot could happen due to the red/orange sparks appearing from the left.

Thriller -

This poster is successful at showing the genre as it is all very dark, which hides the man included within it. By having it all so dark, he looks like a shadow or a silhouette, and makes the audience question who he is and what part he has to play. By hiding the man's appearance, and putting a lot of exaggeration on his hand holding the gun, it makes the audience question whether he is good or bad, and if he is going to be someone they like. Also by focusing on the gun, it shows that he is willing to kill, therefore the audience are encouraged to go and watch it to find out why he needs that gun.

The writing for this poster is in red, which connotates blood, which is a man cliche that will come up in this thriller/horror. By including it in the thriller genre, it is known that there will be a lot of tense moments, and maybe a lot of killing.

Comedy -

This poster for comedy makes it quite clear about what the film will entail. As the woman on the front has a big bump it suggests she is pregnant and the film may involve all the mishapps of being pregnant. The colours used are very femine as they are pinks and whites, which are all common with being a female. By having the quote in almost the top right corner, it makes the audience acknowledge it and what is written suggests it is going to be a comedy about pregnancy since it is saying 'pregnancy sucks'.



Horror -

This film poster is quite obvious of the genre. All the blacks and greys make it clear that it is going to be scary, and by having a scull which is linked to death, it shows that the film is going to involve plenty of deaths and gore. The screws in the scull suggest that something has inpacted it at a force and all the scattered bits of skull back up this idea. The font is in capitals which makes it clear and obvious to the audience, and the '5' is bigger than the name. Because the '5' is so much bigger, the film makers want to make sure the audience know that it is the 5th film of the sequel, so the audience they already have that watch the films would want to see the next one. 'Coming soon' is in red which connotates blood, which also supports the horror genre. The writing at the top of the poster also gives a hint as to what may happen in the film, and what the audience should expect from it. 



Romance - 

This romance poster is quite clear about who it is aiming at. The genre is females as there is bright pink all over the poster and everyone on the front of it is female. By the poster suggesting there will be a wedding, it appeals to the target audience as females enjoy weddings. Another appealing thing about this magazine poster is that the writing at the top mentions another film that was popular in the box office, which is 'The Hangover.' By writing 'better than the hangover' it encourages a female audience who didn't really like The Hangover to watch it to see how funny it is.