2. The Maze Runner is a film from the adventure genre
featuring Dylan O’brien. Adventure films are mostly set
in a period background and may include adapted stories
of historical or fictional adventure heroes. Adventure
films come along with subgenres which include Survival
film, Western film, pirate film, Disaster film, and
Historical drama. This genre of films are popular to
combine with other movie genres such as, science
fiction, fantasy, horror and sometimes war films or
explorer films. These films are known as cross-genres.
Audiences enjoy the complexity of cross-genres, and like
to make predictions about plot and characters.
3. A young male Thomas wakes up trapped in a
strong moving underground cage. When
reaching the surface he finds himself
surrounded by a group of boys who are around
a similar age as him. He discovers that he is
trapped on a side of a maze; he has no memory
of the outside world other than strange dreams
about a mysterious organization known as
W.C.K.D which is shown at the beginning of
the trailer. Throughout the trailer he finds that
a female character and he have been put there
for a reason. Only the memories of his past
with clues he discovers in the maze can help
him discover his true purpose and a way to
escape.
4. The unique selling point of this film trailer
is that the film already recognized as a
bestselling teen novel, as stated in the film
trailer itself. But being a well-known
franchise, many people may know the
main protagonist (Dylan O’Brien), who
plays Thomas in this film. This will also
bring in the wider audience as Dylan
O’Brien is very popular within the female
eyes.
5. The target audience for this film could be young people
between the ages of 15 to 18 both male and female. This
may be because of who the main characters in the film
are. As they’re quite young, it may attract a younger
audience, as well as people who may have seen them in
other TV shows/ film, as they are quite recognizable.
6. During the opening scene of
The Maze Runner there is a
high angled shot of Thomas in
an underground cage. This is
establishing the location of the
first shot. Another high
angled shot of this character is
also shown at the beginning
while another male character
is talking to him. This shows
that Thomas feels belittled.
He uses diegetic dialogue ‘I
can’t remember anything’
during this shot which
suggests he is in a vulnerable
state.
7. A point of view shot from Thomas is shown and we see another male
character, this is a low angled shot which shows that the male character
has more power than Thomas at this point of the trailer. A mid shot of
Thomas pan 180 degrees into a wide low angle shot. This shows his first
glance at his surroundings and the maze. This also gives the audience an
idea of where the film is set and shows us the size of the maze. The camera
being at a low angle would give the protagonist a sense of power, however
comparing him to the setting which is the maze makes him look
intimidated. A similar shot happens when the girl comes in, but on a
greater scale as all of the boys are looking down on her, and she is looking
up. When the black darkened transition occurs the camera slightly moves
up to eye level. This could suggest that he is becoming fearless of his
surroundings.
8. There is an over the shoulder shot at eye level of a
male character when he is explaining where they
are. This is a typical shot for a film as it’s a good way
of showing conversation and facial expressions of
the characters which could also lead to a shot-
reverse-shot movement.
9. A close up on an object covered in slim is shown which is
known as a ‘clue’ which is stated by one of the boys using
diegetic dialogue. This could be from one of the
‘monsters’ that are found in the maze at night. This
gives the audience a feel on how dark the maze is and
what the ‘monsters’ are like which enables them to
imagine what they are without seeing them. In this case,
they could be electronically controlled.
10. A medium close up of Thomas is shown when the maze
entrance shuts on someone’s body for the first time. He
then makes his way through the walls and the camera
cuts on him struggling to make his way through. This
leaves the audience in question to whether he makes it
through in time. It also adds emotion to the character
and the audience can then sympathize and feels what
the character is.
11. Throughout the trailer fades to black and dissolves
transitions to each shot are used. These types of
transitions are used to show a sense of soothing when a
director wants to portray a characters story. When
Thomas is looking at his surrounding in a panning shot
there is a dissolve of two shots that are similar of him
spinning at a slow pace around the maze.
12. During the opening scene of the trailer you can hear the non-diegetic
sound of the lift screeching and clunking. As the cage movement gets
faster the sound get more intense. Over this you hear a voice over of a
male character saying “can you tell me a bit about yourself”. This shows
that the protagonist is new to wherever the lift is taking him. As the cage
stops the non-diegetic sounds of the doors opening which shows the
audience that he as at his location and the intensity dies down, allowing
the audience to feel settled.
Diegetic dialogue is used to establish the location to the protagonist,
Thomas and to the audience. A male character says “Welcome to the
glade”. Using the word welcome could suggest that the character is
inviting the audience into the setting to experience what Thomas is about
to. Another example of diegetic dialogue is ‘What’s out there?’ which is
spoken by Thomas and is also followed by the sound of the ‘monster’
which makes the audience clear that there is some sort of creature out
there, as well as making them scared of the unknown.
Throughout the trailer a non-diegetic soundtrack is played. It starts off as
slow and gradually gets faster as the trailer commences, much like the
visual images. This is done to build up excitement and anticipation for
the audience.
13. The intertitles of the film trailer are all made to resemble the
walls of the maze. They all transition together to make a
word which could also resemble how the walls of the maze
move and create a new paths each time during the film. The
titles are all grey, just like the walls and are placed on black
backgrounds with cloudy light shining behind the middle of
the words. This gives a dramatic effect about them, the light
being mysterious and unknown. The intertitles and credits
include that its based on a bestselling novel, the film
corporation and the name of the film.
14. Code of Enigma questions to the audience which are
then answered shortly after or later on in the film. For
example, Where is she going? Who is she? Why is she
doing that? The audience are enable to question to get
intrigued with the film and wanting to find out the
answers to these questions, therefore it will bring them
to watch more of it, or when watching a trailer it will
entice them to watch the film as they’re curious as to
what till happen which also helps move onto the
narrative of the film.
15. Code of enigma is used throughout the whole of The Maze Runner Trailer.
Firstly, Thomas does not know who he is or where he is from at the beginning of the trailer.
This leaves the audience unaware of who is and where he came from. Knowing your
protagonist is crucial to the audience as it is their main focus of the film so this leaves the
audience in question and wanting to find out more.
Secondly, the boys don’t know how they got to ‘Glade’ or why they’re there which also
interests the audience as they’re left intrigued as to what and who put them there, or why the
boys in particular are there.
Another code of enigma could be the fact that the majority of the population of ‘Glade’ are
male. There is only one female who is been placed into ‘Glade’ and she is aware of Thomas
when she wakes up. However, all the other boys were unaware of there names or each other
when they entered their new homes but Thomas does not know who this female is. This
could leave the audience in question on how this female is the only one there and how she
remembers more than the other boys.
Also, the maze as a whole is the mystery to the audience. The audience do not know
whether the protagonist and the other boys escape from the maze which makes the audience
eager to watch the trailer and the film to find out what happens
And finally the female says ‘What if we were sent here for a reason?’ to Thomas. This leaves
the audience in mystery to whether they’re both to do with the escape from the maze. It
could also be questioned as to why we only see the entrance of these two characters into the
maze and not the other boys.
16. Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believed to be able to
be applied to any film. He believed that all films followed the same
narrative pattern. They all went through stages called the
equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again
equilibrium.
1. Equilibrium - The first part of the story will display a happy
start, where the majority of characters are content and
everything is as it should be.
2. Disequilibrium - The second part of the story will feature a
problem or some thing will disrupt the happiness.
3. Acknowledgement - This part of the plot is when everyone
realises the problem and it is chaos.
4. Solving - This part of the plot is when the characters attempt to
repair the damage and restore the problem.
5. This is the final part of the plot where the problem is resolved
and normality can resume again.
17. In relation to the Todorov’s Theory there is no
Equilibrium in relation to The Maze Runner Trailer. The
trailer starts with Thomas in a caged lift with no idea
where he is or why he’s here
Therefore the equilibrium cannot be broken, however,
due to events in the trailer it does get worse for the
protagonist.
At the end of the trailer we are left with two characters
running through the maze not knowing whether they
escape or not.
18. The audience learn through the intertitles of the trailer. We learn that the film is
based on a best selling novel which is what could make t a unique selling point and
we learn that it has been produced by a popular, well know film company and also
he name of the film which is key to know if interested in this trailer. We also learn
the release date of the film which can be useful for the audience members who
want to watch the film. And finally the intertitles which state ‘Enter the Maze’ and
‘Unlock the Mystery’ allows the audience to experience the adventure and the maze
along with the characters which is a good way for the audience to feel involved.
19. The Maze Runner Trailer is an effective way to advertise
as it really questions the audience into whether they
want to watch he film. The trailer also aims to make the
audience want to go and se the film to connect and
identify the characters in the trailer so they can to solve
the mystery and answers. It will also excite the people
who have read the novel because the fans will want to
see the film to compare it to the book.
