1. In this, I will be looking at film trailers for a variety of
different films, over multiple genres, to see how they
are constructed, and the conventions of different
genres.

2. Coach Carter
 The trailer opens by introducing the companies involved in the
production of the film, followed by the line “Good Afternoon” which,
whilst relevant to the film, also almost introduces the trailer. It opens it
up, and gives the trailer a good starting point, so the audience does not
get confused. It also quickly introduces the characters, but it does not
give us names, or who they are exactly. So, we know who is featured in
the film, and allows the audience to make connections, but it does not
tell us too much about the film, so it keeps the audience interested, and
entices them to carry on watching the trailer, so that they may learn
more about the film. It also quickly jumps in to the action with the
‘main’ character shoving somebody, so we quickly want to know why
that happened, and how it could be considered appropriate. We want to
know the context of what is happening, so we carry on watching. Then,
there is an over-voice that says “He offered them a choice”. The over-
voice is used to inform the audience slightly, so that an audience does
not get confused by what happens immediately after in the trailer, but
also, it doesn’t give much information at all, the one line of voice just
tells us that ‘something’ happened, but what exactly that is, is unclear.
This interests us as an audience, and makes us wonder what is
happening. The voice compliments what happens next where the main
character states “I have given each of you contracts” which suggests
they can follow them, or something bad would happen. This is the
‘choice’ and as an audience, it tells us there is more complexity to this
‘choice’ than just a simple answer, which entices us to carry on
watching the trailer, and also the makes us want to know more about
this ‘choice’ by perhaps making us want to watch the whole film. The
trailer carries on by the voice-over coming back on and saying “between
surviving alone” which makes the audience feel slightly confused, as we
are not sure what it means, but not so confused, that we lose interest in
the trailer. It simply makes us want to know more and more about what
is happening in the trailer and film. A few seconds later after a shot of
the team, and properly establishing all the ‘main’ characters, the voice
over then compliments the shot of the whole ‘team’ by stating “And
standing together”. Following the setup of the trailer and what helps to
make the audience realise the background of the film, the trailer starts
to outline more in depth parts of the film, and shows the audience a
little more of the storyline, such as one of the problems that occurs in
the film. We only hear it very vaguely, however, so it still interests us

3. Coach Carter, Continued
 As we still want to know what is happening, but we also have more background knowledge, and it also outlines the genre of the film a lot
clearer, so that it attracts the type of audience they want. The audience the director wants to attract with this kind of trailer is those
interested in sport, mainly basketball, but with how it also shows the ‘school life’ element, it starts to appeal to all young people, as they can
relate quite easily. Also, the idea of ‘sport’ also appeals to many different people, as many people will have played or still play sport in school.
Following the outline of the major problem they seem to face, again, something to do with school life (bad grades) it then starts to take a
happier and more powerful standing, as the characters start to state things in the trailer such as “You said we’re a team, one player triumphs,
we all triumph”. This also works in conjunction with the start of the trailer, where one of the players is outright against the ‘Coach’ but now
the players are agreeing with him. This kind of link makes the audience interested, as they want to know the in depth reason for why there is
a sudden change of attitude, they want it explaining to them, more so than the trailer could. Also, the music that starts in the last part of the
audience is quite happy music, as opposed to there being no music throughout the rest of the trailer. This changes the tone of the entire
advert to one of quite a cheerful one, with making the audience feel quite happy for the characters, that we don’t really know anything about.
The trailer does this, so that we already feel something for the characters, and so we want to know how and why they get to that stage, and
possibly most importantly, we want to know why the character is cheering at the freeze frame at the end. It looks as if he has just won
something, but as we don’t know the depth of the film, we don’t know what it is, or why it is so important, so as an audience, it intrigues us,
and makes us want to find out.
This is just the run down of the trailer, and it shows us the logic behind why the director chose the ‘storyline’ he did for the trailer, as those
were what he thought were the key points that would interest the consumer.
Nearer the end there is text that fades on that displays the actors name over an image of that character, this works to inform the audience, as
they can make a connection with that actor, and with a big name like “Samuel L Jackson” it gives the audience even more incentive to go and
watch the film, as he is a big name, and people would want to see him. Also, it cuts to black for a few seconds and text shows up saying “On
January 14th” which plain and simply, shows the consumer when they can go and see the film. Due to the director assuming a person has seen
a trailer before, he can assume they would be able to tell that a date would suggest when the film would be released in cinemas. Also, it shows
the same thing right at then end, to reiterate the release date, so people definitely know when they can see the film. However, just before the
date shows again, the words “Coach Carter” come up after all the footage, showing the title of the film. Obviously, this just shows the film
name, and it doesn’t stay there for too long. It’s unnecessary for the title to be there for more than a few seconds, as if it was there for too
long it would bore the audience, and overly it’s just not needed. It gives the name of the film, but it is done in quite a bold way. It stands out
hugely in the few seconds that it’s there, so that people remember it. There would be no point in the trailer, if nobody knew the name of the
film. So, by making it have an impression in people’s minds, it sticks with people, and they know what film they need to look out for when
it’s released.
As for sticking in people’s minds, the sounds throughout the advert are all very similar, except for the music that comes on during the last
part of the advert. The sounds used throughout the advert are quite typical for a sports film. There is a lot of cheering throughout, like at a
basketball game, and also the sound of a basketball bouncing plays in the background, but quite inconspicuously. This is to almost
subconsciously make the audience make connections between their preconceptions of basketball, and the trailer. The fact that they’re all
very similar also makes the trailer simple, and not confusing for an audience. If there were too many different sounds, the trailer would be at
risk of being incoherent and over complex, which would take away from attention from the actual trailer, and make it hard to follow.
The actual setting of the trailer changes quite regularly, but there is not much change between settings. The scenes in the trailer mostly
change between a basketball court, then some place of education, with little variation over different scenes. This helps to create a mood for
the film trailer, and really show the audience what is featured in the film. Overall, the trailer uses many different conventions and effects to
create a specific mood and feel.

4. Independence Day
 The independence day trailer, before going into most of
what happens, is very dark throughout it to show the
impending doom aspect of the film. There is also little
speech, any in it explains the story, in subtle ways.
The trailer starts quite chilled, there’s not much happening
but radio music playing and it shows some ‘office golf’
amongst some form of ‘computers’. This is to show the film
as ‘sci-fi’ but with quite a relaxed feel to it. It’s initially quite
confusing, so the audience is inquisitive. Beeping noises
start and a man looks shocked, creating even more
questions for an audience. The word ‘SETI appears and the
explanation for it, which includes ‘extra-terrestrial’. The
word is interesting as it has connotations of ‘aliens’ with it,
which would straight away hook a consumer who is into sci-
fi. The people rushing around engages the audience, making
them feel involved and as if something really important is
happening, so naturally they will become intrigued and
want to know more. Then the words “It’s the real thing, a
radio signal from another world”. This finally gives the
audience some real information.
“20th Century Fox” informs the audience on who is the
reason behind the film. As it’s such a big name, it interests
an audience, as most consumers will recognise the company
and so want to watch it.
Following this is a scene in the iconic ‘Oval Office’ (US
Presidential Office). This causes an assumption that that
The President is involved, showing how ‘Large Scale’ the
film is and how important the previous events were. There’s
a white flash, which makes the audience re-concentrate, if
they weren’t doing before. Following this, the city gets dark
and iconic New York because of a shadow, showing how
large the approaching object is.

5. Independence Day, Continued
 The audience is going to assume it’s a spaceship, due to the hints in the
previous scenes, yet the immensity of the situation is only truly realised
then. Text then appears stating “We’ve always believed we weren’t
alone, on July 4th, we’ll wish we were” coupled with destruction scenes
gives us the impression of doom and makes the audience feel sorrow
towards the scene. The destruction of the Empire State building is
symbolic, as the destruction of a world known building reinforces the
immensity of the situation. It then gets into scenes of the military, it
shows a military base getting attacked, followed by their retaliation,
showing an audience how they actually do have hope and also
appealing to action film lovers as they can bluntly see what’s in the
film.
Overall, the trailer gets its point across in the trailer. It establishes what
is going to happen in the film, yet doesn’t really give much away. It
doesn’t show us how it will end, only sets us up to go and watch to see
what and how different situations in the film occur.

6. The Blind Side
 This trailer starts off with a disclaimer, to inform an audience as to
what is in the trailer, to cover legal matters, then it quickly
informs us that the film is produced by Warner Bros who are a big
company. This creates meaning in an audience, as they recognise
the company as it’s such a well known brand, making an audience
want to see it.
The first scene shows a typical family life with mum, dad and kids.
This goes along with the phrase “It’s all she’s ever known” coming
up, to reinforce a typical family feel to everything. What isn’t so
typical is the setting. The family own a big house with nice cars,
etc, showing the audience that the family has a lot of money. This
is using codes, as it plays on an audiences knowledge of what it is
to be rich, conventionally.
“It’s the only thing he’s ever known” shows there is another side to
this story and the song ‘How To Save A Life’ in the background
adds some sad connotations. The Voiceover explaining “He’s been
involved in 7 different institutions and “didn’t attend school at all”
shows that the ‘Other story’ is a bad one.
The character himself is a huge man and when he enters the
classroom, the other kids stare, showing their discontent,,
showing that he is going to be initially judged in this story. Also,
this affects the audiences view on him. We almost feel unnerved
the size of the man, yet this does force us to feel his presence,
therefore forcing us to know he is one of the main characters, as
he is simply unavoidable.
The big guy then goes over and says “Hi” to some little girls with a
puzzled look on his face, in the next scene. This is showing his
lack of people skills. Then, the little kid talking to him and
introducing himself shows he will be a part of the story. The trick
of having a character introduce himself in a trailer, shows an
audience that there are multiple characters and it leaves a mark
on their mind, so they remember about the character.

7. The Blind Side, Continued
 The two stories then intertwine with the woman seeing him and quickly
becoming involved with him, taking on a mother role, by taking him home as
she realises he has nowhere to stay. Her taking him home shows the audience
just how involved the two of these will be. The fact it shows her giving Mike his
own room shows they are very links. Mile also discloses that he has never had a
bed before, really making the audience feel sorry for him and showing an
audience what kind of background he was from.
Most of the rest of the trailer is showing Mike’s progression in school and as a
person. Eventually it shows him playing American Football, which is one of the
main focuses of the film. It shows this later in the trailer, as it doesn’t want to
take the attention away from the actual storyline. The sport is important, but
it’s almost a side story to what is happening with Mike and how he is becoming
a better person, etc.
The ending to the trailer is very happy, showing the film has quite a good ‘feel
good factor’ about it, which is very appealing to a broad audience and so it
would attract a broad audience!