Initial Ideas

Zodiac Trailer Analysis

Zodiac

The film trailer uses an array of different well known critically acclaimed actors meaning the star power is used by the film company in order to draw in a further audience. This is done by the viewers identifying that these people are in the film and know that they will only star in films with a good story line and high production value, so the audience will connote that this film should be good with such actors as Robert Downey Jr, Jake Gyllenhall and Mark Ruffalo starring in the film.

The film uses patriarchy, this connotes that there will be a lot of action will be in the film as normally when the films are male dominated, lots of action will occur meaning that the viewers who thrive for these situation will stay entertained by the film and will want to watch it all the way through. However, in the trailer this creates a sense of anticipation as the viewers will want to see what happens and who is killed due to the story line being based on a real life occurrence.

Low-key lighting is used throughout the trailer to emphasise the mood of the trailer, as lots of death will be occurring meaning that the film shouldn't have a happy tone to it and should represent the suffering and actions of the killer and victims.

Fade to blacks are used frequently in the film to show the passing of time or situation that the character has been put in.

There is no synchronous dialogue used in the trailer which will confuse the viewers when trying to understand what is happening in the story line. This will keep the viewers disorientated throughout the extract, but this will have a positive effect for them as they will still be questioning why this is used throughout the trailer and will hopefully go on to watch the film in order to comprehend what was happening in the trailer as it intrigued them. 

The music in the trailer was also changed to fit the scene change in the film as two different moods and situations are apparent in the trailer. This allows the scenes to make more sense of the extract as it is not playing with there emotions. As the scenes move into the inner city the music changes due to the location change.

Titles are used throughout the trailer to introduce the actors so that the audience can see the well known actors are making an appearance and to allow the audience to identify who produced and distributed the film as well as the title as maybe they can relate it to previous knowledge they obtain.

The use of props is quite apparent in the trailer as it helps progress the short story line and helps the viewers to gain a further understanding of the characters and what they bring to the table. For example a gun is shown and used for the chasers and killer, therefor the viewers would be able to identify that the film will contain violence and drama towards death.

The extract only uses dialogue which appears in the film which adds to the realism of the clip. This allows the audience to create an opinion of the film as they are seeing clips directly from the film with no further editing allowing them to come up with the decision of whether they would like to see the film or not.

Se7en Trailer Analysis

Se7en Trailer Analysis

Dark lighting is used to create a grimy and gritty scene that emphasises the fact that dark, negative situation that is occurring on screen. For the viewers this creates an image in their head that the film will be based on dark and negative situations which will create anticipation for them. This is reflected by the weather in the majority of the extract which is raining, which shows the pathetic fallacy of the trailer as it matches the mood of it.

The trailer uses slow tense music in order to emphasise the actions happening in the extract. This is because the music is synchronous to the action which will build the suspense and fear further as they are expecting something bad to happen with the build up of the music.

The extract uses well known actors or star power to draw an audience in, with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman being the main actors in the trailer. This will draw a larger audience in as they're both well known actors and are known for acting well with awards to back up their roles meaning that the presence in the film will surely mean the narrative has to be good for them to star in it as detectives.

Close-ups are used on the actors face to emphasise to the audience the emotions being shown and felt on the face of the characters, to give an insight into what the characters are thinking.

To go along with the detective theme, a mise-en-scene feature is used to emphasise and make it easily identifiable to the audience that the main actors in the film are detectives and they have the stereotypical features that they need.

Subtitles and Titles are used throughout the extract in order for the audience to be able to identify who is in the film as well, who was vital in the making, production and distribution of the film as well as simple features like the title of the film.

A voice over is used in order to try and help the story line progress throughout the trailer and also make it easier for the viewers to comprehend what is happening in the extract as he is providing more background information.

A flash cut is used to help move the scene on to the next section of the film, without trying to give away too much information to keep the viewers guessing. This is also synced with sound FX to show that the section of the film is moving and draw more attention as it catches the ear. The trailer is broken into three different sections allowing for different parts of the story to be shown without giving away too much, so it entices the viewers to either go and buy the film on DVD or watch it in cinemas, depending how much anticipation they have to see the film.

A tracking shot is used when Brad Pitt's character is sliding across the car to try and chase something. This shot allows the viewers to follow the action with full understanding of the situation happening ahead of him.

The trailer is set in three different locations mainly which help to give ideas what the story line is going to entail which are the Police Headquarters, autopsy room and the city streets. What the viewers can connote from this is that the detectives will have intense chases and problems in the streets but this will ultimately lead to death as the detective end up at the autopsy room.

Annotations of Film Covers

Girl on the Train Analysis

Girl on the Train Analysis

The trailer shows institutional information, creating tension, suspension eeriness and mystery throughout the trailer, which is also the enigma code.

Constant uses of fade to black to move the scene on suggesting passing of time or situation.

Dynamic tracking shots are used to emphasise the eeriness of the situation and the dark times ahead.

Captions are used to introduce actors.

The music increases In intensity throughout the trailer to create the feeling of anticipation for the viewer, as they would be ready and wanting to see what happens in the action, which makes them feel as if they need to go view the film at cinemas as soon as possible

Flashbacks are used to progress the storyline and keep the audience guessing what's going on.

Quick editing, smash cuts and impact dialogue are all used to build up the storyline and make it more captivating for the viewers as the intensity increases.

Source material is referenced throughout the film.

The film is set on the outskirts of New York.

Close-ups are used to how the intense emotions of the characters and to show that the situation is real in the film and isn't just a joke.

Slow zooms are used to highlight significant aspects of the film, to show the viewers how important the actor, situation or object is to the scene.

A synchronous dialogue is used throughout the scene but the trailer is not in chronological order due to flashbacks.

There are different settings throughout the trailer used to show that the scenes aren't set in one place and there is going to be travelling on the train, hence the name.

Close-ups and establishing shots are used to set the scenes throughout the trailer.

Thriller Genre Analysis

A thriller movie is a film that main aim is to keep the audience on their toes in many different ways and aspects to shock the viewers. This would normally be through the use of an exciting plot which normally involves crime or espionage which i feel like we will use in our upcoming projects. The name for the genre is very convenient as the look to contain exciting content which will keep the viewers attention at a high and make for an enjoyable and shocking experience.

The thriller genre aims to create different emotions for a viewers when watching the film which makes the genre so unique. These could be:
-Thrill
-Anticipation
-Suspense
-Fear
-Shock

There are also many sub-genres of the thriller genre which help create the overall genre and all have different takes on a film piece. This could be:
-Crime Thriller
-Psychological Thriller
-Action Thriller
-Mystery Thriller
-Chilling Thriller
-Comedy Thriller

Some normal conventions that will always occur in a thriller film is:
-Mystery
-Low key lighting
-Negative mood
-Challenge peoples fear
-Anticipation and build up
-Fast and Slow paced editing

Examples of Successful thriller films
-Psycho
-Seven
-Shutter Island
-Momento
-Gone Girl
-Fight Club
-Taken