After learning all the conventions that would be needed to create a trailer of my own, I was put into a group to produce a trailer from the film 'The Omen' which we was watched during 2 of our lessons (see poster to the right).
Creating the trailer meant not using a simple Windows program such as Windows Movie Maker, we had to use a Mac (Apple branded computer) and using the program Final Cut Pro to create the trailer.
I have used Final Cut Pro before to create a short film, so that gives me an advantage when it comes to creating a simple 2 minute trailer, piecing together the best bits of the film, being careful not to reveal too much.
In the end, We were only able to create a trailer that was about a minute and 20 seconds long, however we were aiming for something that was two minutes long, so the trailer wasn't finished. We had the beginning and the middle of the trailer done, but we hadn't started the end. This was due to poor time management skills, along with poor communication skills. I will take the skills that I have learned here onto my main task and hope that poor time management and communication skills do not become my downfall again.
Halloween
9th in the Halloween series, this remake of the 1978 film is an American slasher film written, produced and directed by Rob Zombie. Rob's remake follows the premise of John Carpenter's original version, where Michael Myers (the main character) staalks the character of Laurie Strode and her friends on Halloween night, however, Zombie's film goes deeper into the characters mindset, trying to figure out what his reasons for killing people are, unlike Carpenter's version where Michael Myers just kills for the sake of killing.
The use of quick edits and extreme close ups at the beginning of the trailer with the newspaper articles (see to the right and below) convey to the audience that a lot had happened so many years ago, it also conveys to the audience the main characters fascination with the night of Halloween (the title of the film) but also because of the newspaper cut outs, there is a lot of mystery created at the same time.
Another thing the quick edits used in the trailer have done is give the audience a taster of some of the violence and possible deaths that will happen at one point or another throughout the film. At the end of the trailer, when Michael Myers carries a girl away in his arms, it possibly indicates to the audience that he has whatever he is looking for, but also poses the question of will she somehow manage to escape, which makes the viewer want to watch the film even more to see if anything more has happened.
The final edit, which is think was best used in the trailer, was between 00:20 and 00:22 where you just catch a glimpse of the 10 year old Michael Myers wearing a mask and looking much older. This I believe was used to once again, see into the future and give the viewer a possible inside as to what the main character is going to look like at some point within the film.
The use of non-diagetic sounds such as a blade possibly being cleaned, the piano at the end of the trailer when the intertitles are showing, the heartbeat when you see adult Michael Myers for the 1st time and at the end of trailer, the screaming that comes from nowhere and the background music playing throuhgout all help to create an desired effect of building up the tension and perhaps get the viewer excited, but also possibly scare the viewer a little bit, but only enough that would make them want to go and see the trailer. The use of diagetic sounds throughout the trailer add a realism to everything that you see happen within the trailer.
There are quite a few valuable shots used throughout the trailer, such as the close up of Michael Myers' face (00:27-00:29) which was used to show no expression on his face. The very long shot of Myers walking away from a hallway of blood (00:42-00:46) which puts emphasis on the blood stain on the wall, indicating to the viewer that someone has possibly died here. The extreme close-up on Myers' eyes (01:10) allow the viewer a quick glimpse into the coldness of Michael Myers, which possibly indicates that there is no feeling inside him whatsoever for what he is doing.
The Hurt Locker
This American made war film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, with the screenplay written by Mark Boal who was a freelance writed, but was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb squad in Iraq. This film was premiered in 2008 but wasn't globally released until July 24th 2009. It is about a three man US Army team that dealt with the disposal of explosives during the Iraq war.
There is a slow motion edit used from 01:29 and 01:32 which I believe to be the best edit used throughout the trailer because it enhances how close he was to almost being blown up by the bombs which are just right behind him and also shows that just like the environment around him, he can also be easily destroyed. I also think it places the viewer on the edge of their seat at this point because of how close he is. In my opinion, all the other kinds of edits used in this film don't stand out as much as the one i've just talked about.
In terms of shots used, there are some close ups used whenever you see significant objects like the bombs or the wires from them being cut throughout the trailer to emphasis the importance of them. There aren't a lot of any close ups on anyone's faces and of what there are, they only show happiness, however a lot of the tilted framed shots show a lot of expression on the characters faces, mostly to do with fear.
The non-diagetic sound of the watch ticking away which speeds up, the heavy breathing you hear and the heartbeat you hear all show tension and that something dangerous is happening. When the ticking speeds up, the tension and danger builds during the trailer, making the audience wonder if the main character will survive all the way to then end. From about 01:10 onwards, the music playing reflects the genre that the director was trying to aim for in the creation of the trailer. It also reflects a fast paced movement, which is something the army always has to be. My final point on sound is that most of the diagetic sound used, which outnumbers the non-diagetic sound used throughout the film, is enhanced, which takes away from the realism of everything shown throughout the trailer, but the audience who the director has tried to aim this trailer at don't see this, they are only interested in the trailer because it plays on male stereotypes with the guns and explosions etc, so the director is allowed to get away with this.
What is the purpose of trailers? Is it to give an inside as to what the film will contain? Is it to try and draw in an audience that the producers might not have expected to draw in?
Every single trailer and poster that can be found in today's society, all contain information about the film, some of which isn't even words, it can either be the pictures you see on the poster or what you view in a trailer. The generic things that are seen when looking at a poster are: Rating, release date, actors and directors, title and institution. When looking at a trailer, you would see all of these pieces of information including: Inter titles, narration, reviews and soundbites. The genre is also a vital piece of information that can be found when looking at both a trailer and a poster. All of these pieces of information give the audience an idea on whether the film is good or not.
Trailiers also use the technique of not showing the ending of the film in the trailer. In most types of genre, whether it be action or horror or romantic comedy, the trailer seems to build up to a really dramatic point (which could be from either the beginning or the end of the film) and then the titles appear, leaving the audience in some kind of suspense, making them want to go and see the film as the trailers always have no ending, which in turn, is how the film generates revenue. Without trailers, films might not be majorly broadcasted.
All trailers appear to have an equilibrium which then becomes disrupted (or lost) due to something happening, then after some recognition of the disruption, action is then taken to install a new equilibrium, but the new equilibrium is never shown at the end of the trailer. Like I previously stated, this is done to ensure that the audience actually watches the film to find out if the equilibrium does become restored at the end of the film. This narrative theory was created by Tzvetan Todorov.
Conventions themselves: When it comes to the conventions that are used in trailers, a lot of them have already been covered, but some that have not been mentioned are: the fact that all trailers are between 1 and 3 minutes long and that trailers use editing crescendos and flashing transitions. These conventions plus everything else mentioned throughout this piece make up how a trailer is made and what it's purpose is.
When talking about the conventions of a specific type of film, you tend to think about many specific points and sub-points related to that film, such as why that specific genere exists, some of which are easier to identify than others. For example, you can't always tell what a comedy or a romantic film would look like just be looking at a poster, you would have to watch the trailer of the film, and even then, your assumptions of a genre could be wrong, especially if the film has a sub-genre that is hard to recognise. Horror films in my opinion tend to normally stick to their own genre, but if they include a sub-genre, then it is one that is easily recognised by the general public.
Going deeper into the conventions of Horror, you would tend to think of things like what symbols the film includes. Some easy ones to notice are: Relgion, the colours red and black, crows, monsters, blood and guts and photos. Some that aren't so easy to notice are: Cats, a hidden face and more.
Locations play a big part in the production of horror films, with the best ones being the most obvious places to use, such as churches, schools, graveyards, forests, cellars and attics and the most generic one used being a haunted house.
The music and the sounds you here also plays a big part in the production of horror films as they also help to set the mood, indicating to the audience how they should possibly feel or what is about to happen in a specific scene. Some generic sounds or pieces of music that are normally heard in horror films are: Screams (usually high pitched), strings (in the form of an opera), the wind (russelling trees), rock or heavy metal music, slamming or squeaking doors, growls from animals or people, an echo that can be heard from far away and crying.
Horror films are normally centred around a theme that lasts throughout the entire film, and is normally used by the psycho (a character used in horror films) in terms of how they like to isolate their victims. Other themes used are: Slasher, the supernatural, winter/autumn (which links to locations), science and more.
When watching a horror film, you tend to not really see too much lighting used as the film is meant to be creating a dark, drury feeling. The only light really visible is the natural kind of light, so things like the moon, the night itself, fire (torches) and the shadows. A silhouette feeling is created with the lack of lighting used as well.
Without any of the symbols, lighting, themes, locations and sound/music thought of when creating a horror film, then they wouldn't really be the greatest of creations and the films themselves wouldn't be able to create a certain dramatic effect that horror films like to do, especially when they try to, as they say in the business "leave people on the edge of their seats".
After analysising all the conventions that were just previously talked about, I decided to think of an example of a horror film where conventions either conform (normal) or are subject (abnormal) to the generic conventions that horror presents. The example I chose was the film "Splice" a very low marketed film in 2009 but was then marketed more in 2010, when more of a general release of the film was made. things like isolation, monsters, blood and guts, strings, science, winter (the snow), the moon and forests are conventions that conform in the film, but just as there are things that conform, there are things that are subject to conventions in the film, such as the female scientist first taking up a parental role, but then switches to the male scientist of the monster that they have created, which they need to protect.
At the beginning of the course, I, along with my peers, had to decide what type of trailer to make, choosing between an action trailer and a horror trailer. In the end, it was decided that a horror trailer would be made. Since then, we have been doing a lot of research of how not just a horror trailer, but other different types of trailers are portrayed to the general public.
