Film Trailer Analysis

Micro - Media Language
- Camera shots - angle, position, movement
- Sound - dialogue, music, sound effects
- Mise-en-Scene - lighting, costume, props, location, make-up, hair
- Editing - transitions, shot reverse shot, match on action, pace etc

Macro
- Representation - character
- Audience - who is the target audience? What features would appeal to this tm? What similar films could be shown alongside this one based on the same audience profile? (Ages certificates) - Teen boys + girls, families, couples, 16-25 year old, 16-25 skewed to girls, and boys, 25-35 skewed to women
- Length of each shot and number of shots used
- Titles, credits, institutional references (film logos)
- Narrative - how are you being introduced to the narrative?
- Genre specific codes and conventions
- Length of trailer
- Three act structure - act 1 = opening
                             - 2 = middle - drives the story further - ends with a dramatic climax
                             - 3 = strong piece of signature music - visual montage of powerful and emotional moments of the film + may contain a cast run

Film Trailer

What is its purpose?
- The film's calling card
Trailer's consist of a series of carefully selected shots from the film being advertised
-The purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience to the film/ to encourage then to watch the film
- To inform/ encourage/ persuade the target audience of the film - AIDA (to make people aware, to create interest, to crate a desire to see the film and then to take action and go and see the film)
- Film trailer clips are usually drawn from the most exciting, funny, or important parts of the film
- Trailers tend to be part of a marketing campaign which has many other elements to it
- STUDENT MISTAKE - TRAILERS TEND TO LOOK LIKE OPENING SEQUENCES

What other ways are film companies marketing their films?
- Posters
- On cinema sites
- Premiere - media coverage
- On TV shows - chat shows - world tours
- Merchandise - toys - McDonalds
- Apps
- 'leaked' previews - internet
- Behind the scene shots
- Cinemas - cardboard cut outs
                 - food container designs
 - Facebook/ Twitter
- Teaser trailers - series of small trailers that come out before the actual trailer
- Adverts
- Viral video
- Fake political campaign
- Magazines/ newspapers
- Soundtracks
- Themes events
- Billboards
- Flash mobs
- Iron Man really did this

What would you expect to find in a trailer?
- Background music - fast paced to represent a thriller or soft and slow for a rom-com
- Short clips of the film itself
- Introduction to the characters - mainly in rom-coms
- Horror - stars normal, then slowly builds up the tension with weird things
- Titles and release dates, film companies, directors, artists included on the soundtracks and actors
- Exciting or funny scenes - grab the audience, but not give anything away
- Voice over
- Introduction to the narrative, then include montages
- Quotes from the media
- Music/ sound effects
- Classification - ratings
- Quick cuts and edits; faced paces


Most trailers have a three-act structure similar to a similar feature-length film
- Start with a beginning (act 1) -
- Middle (act 2) - drives story further - ends with a dramatic climax
- Act 3 - signiture music - consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments

Todrov Narrative Theory uses this

Tell the story of a movie in a highly condensed fashion must have maximum appeal

Interesting Facts
Originally viewed at the end, but people walked out at the end - now shown at the beginning
- 10 billion trailers viewed online - 08

Marketing Campaingns

The Boat That Rocked Marketing Campaign on Prezi

Research Task 2: It's Raining Men Analysis

Geri Halliwell - It's Raining Men on Prezi

Construction notes

Mark Own - 4

Sometimes record companies and the artists want different things when it comes to music videos
Tend to shoot for 14 hours - 18 studio - includes setting up
Don't have to film in chronological order - if you have two locations close together then film together
Special effects - try and be creative with home appliances - fan, reversing shots, fairy lights etc
When it came to editing he edited the airplane piece first then cut in the pool party

Using Godwin's point when analysing

 Goodwin’s six points

-          Genre  characteristics

-          Visuals/lyrics

-          Visuals/music

-          Need to sell artist

-          Intertexuality

-          Voyeurism

    Genre

-          Mainstream pop

-          Performance in a location

-          Dance routine

-          Some narrative

    Strong link between video and lyrics

    Binary opposition between old teacher man and the brightly coloured dancers – youth

    Literal links between the lyrics and the film itself

    Editing – reflects the visuals

    Visuals and lyrics

-          Mostly amplifies, not literally illustrative

-          Rain, but not raining men

-          Though lots of rain and men in it

    Visuals and music

-          Changed  in pace in song echoed in editing

-          Change of location with change in music

-          Cutting on beat at times

    Selling the artist

-          Changes in costumes

-          Use of close up

-          Central framing

-          Showing off her ‘talent’

-          Selling Geri’s new image

-          Directly looking at the camera – grabbing attention

-          Low angle shot – makes her look superior

-          Disciplined – ballet

-          Mise-en-scene – brightly coloured clothes – youthful + energetic – red – anger etc

    First new video since spice girls – new image – would want to emphasise this – close ups

    Intertextuality

-          References to ‘Flashdance’ and ‘fame’

-          Similar to J-Lo video ‘I’m Glad’

    Voyeurism

-          Geri’s new body image – exhibitionism – invites voyeurism

-          Fragmentation in early sequence

    Looking

-          Structure of characters looking at her

-          Echoes ‘gaze’ of viewer

-          People looking out of windows at her = smiles on their faces

Music Videos

A music video is a video of a musician promoting their single

What is the purpose of a music video?

- Advertise the artist

- Promote sales figures

- Convey a sense of what the artist themselves is like along with their music genre

- Convey the meaning of the song itself – story – viewer can identify

- To stand out from other artists

- Visually memorable – worth repeating

- To entertain (uses and gratifications)

- To invoke a reaction (create a talking point – uses and grat)

What are the conventions of a music video?

-          Close-ups/ mid shots

-          Establishing shots

-          Mise-en-scene – rap song – clothes to accompany – lots of representation

-          Music instruments – guitars, drums

-          Post production editing – song laid over after - layering

-          Lighting depends on genre of music

-          Edited in time with the music

-          Editing important – need to reflect the mood + genre of the music

-          Depends on the genre of music video itself

-          Camera shots – long, close-up + mid shots – create emphasis on the artist, locations and emotions

o   Close ups = reflect the words of the song – movement of lips of the artist

-          Camera movements – follows  the artist/ band

-          Costume – important factor – would influence how viewers dress – artists seen as role models

o   Colours set the mood – dark – rock – light  - pop

-          Editing – jump cuts are p[redominantly used – allows sudden change from one scene to another

o   Transitions of

Three genres exist

-          Stadium performances

-          Studio performances

-          Location performances

When analysing

-          A relationship between the lyrics and visuals

o   Between music and videos

-          Particular genres may have their own visual style and iconography

-          A demand for the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist

-          Artist develops their own star iconography in and out of their videos

-          Reference to voyeurism (screen within screen, binoculars, cameras)

-          Intertextual references – similar scenes etc.

John Stewart

-          A music video has the aesthetics of a tv commercial with lots of close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the star’s face

-          Sees visual references in music video as coming from a range of sources – three most frequent = cinema, fashion and art photography

-          Describes music videos as ‘incorporating, raiding and reconstructing’ is essentially the essence of intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar to generate both nostalgic associations and new meanings

-          The video allows more access

Camera work

-          Significant impact on meaning

-          Movement, angle and shot distance can be analysed

-          Close ups dominates because of the size of the screen and desire to create intimacy

-          Lighting to focus on the artists face

-          Camera movement accompanies the artists movement

Editing

-          Mostly montage shots

-          Images difficult to grasp on first viewing

-          Some videos slower pace and gentler shots transitions to establish mood

-          Digital effects like split screen – CGI

Intertextuality

-          Post-modern text

-          Drawing upon existing texts in order to spark recognition in the audience

-          Short hand

-          Not all audiences will spot the reference

-          Pleasure

-          Some draw upon cinema, tv genre, other music videos etc

-          Pastiche –serious imitation of texts features by another text – could be in the same style, have similar techniques of the original. Sometimes they copy a style period in time – MJ Thriller – 1950s and 1890s horror/ zombie films. More pastiche – director John Landis who directed an American werewolf in London directed his video 

-          Parody – comical version of the original

Freud

-          Erotic pleasure gained from looking at a sexual object who are unaware they are being looked at

-          Relevant for female performances but becoming more prolific in male MV’s – nudity/ near nudity

-          Exhibitionism

-          aN intimate location

-          Screen within a screen

-          Mirror shot

-          Door/ window framing

-          Cameras or binoculars

-          Too much – limits audience

-          Too little – uninteresting

            Sexually provocative and in control of it

-          Inviting sexual gaze

-          Is the female flesh on display simply a cynical exploitation of the female body to increase (largely)  male profit margins, or a life – enhancing assertion of female

Mulvey

-          The Male Gaze

-          Argues the main viewpoint is male

-          Women are sexualised in the media

-          A powerful controlling gaze at the female on display

-          Passive