The document provides analysis of several movie trailers, noting various film techniques used and their intended effects. For the London Has Fallen trailer, it notes the establishing shots, lighting, and voiceover used to set the scene and tone. For Daddy's Home, it discusses the soundtrack, framing, and representation of characters. Overall, the document examines techniques across trailers to understand how to craft an engaging trailer that provides context while generating interest in the full film.
2. LONDON HAS FALLEN
The initial establishing shot of theWhite House is one of which is familiar to all viewers. The low key lighting suggests that something
bad is going to happen as it creates a negative dull feel. Before we are able to identify the president we see his feet as he runs for his
fitness, the close up shot and pan up to identify the president leaves the viewer shocked due to the fact the president is in casual sport
clothing of which we would not usually associate a president with.The voiceover adds to the understanding of what is going on and
what is to be expected in the film, I would like to use a voiceover in my trailer as I feel it would make the audience feel more connected
and in the know. It is clear with who holds the most power within the film and the powerful politicians are easily identifiable from the
formal suits and the iconic cars of which they ride in. They have made sure of including snippets of car chases, gun fights etc, which are
typical conventions of an action adventure film, I hope to do this in my trailer as I feel it will demonstrate the depth of the full film.
Within the trailer, lighting is used in order to create character. Low key lighting used when the president is in the basement suggests that
he is of importance and hiding from something, he does not want to be revealed. The multiple establishing shots of the world cities is
used in order to show the vastness and complexity of the city, accompanied with the voiceover of the antagonist saying “All the worlds
major cities will be burned down”, we can understand the effect that the antagonists threat may have on the cities.The typical city
locations of what feature throughout allow for the audience to relate, therefore making each scene as realistic as possible. I like this
theme of realism which runs throughout and wish for all my locations within my film and trailer to be everyday places which my
audience can relate to.The increasing tempo of the soundtrack helps build tension and lead to a partial conclusion, from the music it
almost feels as if we are going see the full outcome, but being a trailer this never happens. The extreme close up of the hand on the
helicopter control demonstrates that the USA is powerful and resourceful. Pleonastic sounds of the gun fire and missile explosions
emphasises the destruction of the weapons and makes the trailer a much more excitable watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK7PbujRUOk
3. DADDY’S HOME
(2015)
The initial longshots a long with the dialogue of the father character carry heavy themes of father and child
relationships.The soft acoustic soundtrack as the backing track carries a happy, gentle tone, which we would typically
associate with happy families.The fade to black In this trailer has been used in order to fragment and represent a
break/problem within the family.After each fade to black another piece to the problem is revealed such as when the
father tells us he is only the stepdad, slightly ruining the happy tone.The hand held camera is used in order to show
the competition between the Dad and the step-dad, it shows their frustration for fighting for the title of best dad.The
fast paced action of the trailer allows for the audience to see both sides of the story and indicates the contradiction
between the two.The low camera angles used for the real dad portray him as powerful and the high camera angles
used for the step dad (will Ferrell) portray him as a comical character and give him a rather comical representation.
Through the choice of actors, will Ferrell, as an audience we can associate him with many other comedy films, thus
fans ofWill Ferrell will, watch the film and find it more funny. From studying this trailer, I hope to steer clear from the
traits used within this trailer when producing mine as the comedy genre means that the producers have strived to
produce a comical effect in a way of using lots of high key lighting, bright costumes of which are very similar to each
other and childish fonts for graphics.The fact subtitles are used when the elderly man speaks suggests that he is not
as able, thus creating a negative representation of elderly. Just from the fast paced cuts and constant change of anger
we are able to understand the fathers frustration as he competes with the step-dad to be the favourite. Lots of long
and mid shots of the step dad and the children in shot are used alongside close ups of Will Ferrell in order to show the
divide. Although my film is of a different genre to Daddy’s home, I will still use parts as inspiration, it has led to me to
thinking I need to include some sort of humour in my trailer in order to appeal to a range of audiences and show the
diversity within the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sgpwTBnuLo
4. 7 MINUTES
The close up shot of the alarm clock along with the ticking of the clock indicate that something is building up to
something significant, the increasing tempo of the clock sound builds tension and engages the audience as they want
to continue watching to find out what happens.Through the use of mise en scene, the choice of props such as the
masks allow for us to distinguish between the antagonists and the protagonists.The shot of the masked man in the
rear view mirror has inspired us to make use of this shot in our own trailer, we feel it adds a sense of secrecy and makes
the shot more 3 dimensional as if you are seeing it from another view point.The slow motion as the masked men get
out of the truck allows for the audience to focus on certain details such as the concentration of the men, it also
highlights that it is a significant part of the film.The use of cross cutting a long with the sound bridge of the dialogue
gives the audience an insight as to what the film will be about within a short space of time. As in most trailers the
sudden cut to black’s prevent the audience from seeing the full extent of what happens, thus meaning they must watch
the full film. In order to appeal to a wider audience, we see some irony feature, the use of the gun prop a long side the
close up shot of the teachers confused face, allows us to notice that the teacher is more bothered that it is ‘Sam’ than
the fact he has a gun, this is a typical and humorous.The POV shot as the man hits the person, puts the viewer in the
persons film, therefore they too feel vulnerable and feel closer to the action.The low angled shot of the man outside
the prison is used in order to highlight the physical size and power of the prison and portrays the man as weak and
empowered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__53_fUpjK8
5. DEADPOOL
From the initial two shot accompanied by the low key lighting and the lady’s dialogue of “I love you,” means that we the situation
between the two characters is instantly set- when watching this trailer I liked the fact that we were given some contextual
information as it helps us to understand the trailer throughout.The extreme close up of the hands together suggests that the man
and lady have a connection, we can see how physically and mentally close they are to each other.The low key lighting matches the
mood of the man and lady as he relays back to her that he has cancer.The shallow focus of the scans showing the cancers is
indicative of the enormity of cancer. The slow tempo snares are almost like a timer, a sense of time and chronology features
throughout the trailer and suggests to the viewer that it is only a matter of time with his cancer and thus creates a sense of urgency.
The aerial shot used when he is lying on his back and still has the cancers suggests that he is vulnerable and weak due to the cancer
however the low angled mid shot after the cancer has gone indicates that now he is clear of cancer, he is strong and powerful.The
props of the guns represent him as resourceful. From the abundance of machines and mechanisms of which the protagonist is tied
to, heavy futuristic themes feature, the power of the antagonists is understood as we can see they have lots of equipment. The pan
of his body as he lies on the bed highlights the trouble he is in and just how restricted he is.There is an element of surprise too,
which I think works well, as the shallow focus of the background means we pay more attention on what is going on in the
background even though the lady comes a long to hit the man over the face of which we was not focusing on. Lots of low angled
shots when he is in his costume represent him as powerful. I hope to make use of camera angles in my film to create representation
of character, I hope that by using low angles it will demonstrate my character as powerful and by using high angles the character
will seen to be vulnerable. The blood stained effect used for the titles is evidence that the film will feature violence and fighting, this
will excite viewers who wish to see this. Handheld camera action during the
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONHBaC-pfsk
6. TED
The one thing I noticed within theTed trailer was the us of continuity editing throughout, this means that a more
realistic feel is created, in order to make the fact that a bear is talking and a live a lot more believable.The crane and
dolly shot used creates a smooth continuous flow similar to the fluid mind of a child. The cutaway is used in order to
add a more comical effect as it clearly shows the contradiction between the loving bear we see at the start and the
drug loving other side to him.The slow zoom out when ted and the man are sitting on the sofa means we see the
situation getting worse and worse as the camera zooms out, to the viewers surprise the situation worsens.The use of
graphic titles such as ‘From the creators of family guy’, encourages the audience to continue watching as existing
fans of family guy will know they have an interest in the directors work. Colours such as white and green are used for
the graphics as they connote the childish comedy o0f what is to come, they carry a happy theme. A continuous
soundtrack is clearly missing from the trailer, this is atypical of most trailers, however it works well with a lot of
comedy genres as the comical dialogue of the characters can then be heard in order to make the audience laugh.The
two shot of the man andTed sitting on the wall is used in order to add a humorous tone as this is not something we
see everyday and is very surreal, it also represents the strong relationship between the human and the bear as this is
something we usually see two humans doing.The two shot of the man andTed at the aquarium along with the low
key lighting is indicative of the twos unity, the low key lighting means that each of their physical features are
unidentifiable suggesting that although one is a bear and the other a human, they are the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbo_pQvU7M