2. Codes and Conventions of Film Trailers:
• Production Studio Logo- At the beginning of a film trailer the production company's logo
will be shown which can be a benefit to the movie as if the company producing the film
are well known and have a good reputation then this can aid the hype towards the movie.
Depending on the company it will show what kind of movie the trailer is selling like if the
movie were being produced by Marvel. From seeing the logo we would know the movie is
most likely an action/superhero movie with a large budget.
• Film Title- This one is a given however during a trailer the movies name will always
appear however the fonts used, coloring and background behind it can be another
indicator to what genre the movie may be.
• BBFC age certification- In every film that is released in the UK, there is an age certification
given to it by the British Board of Film Classification. It gives the viewer a guideline for
what the target audience is as if a film were given the U certificate, we know the movie is
for everyone and will be family friendly movie however if the movie were given a 15
certificate, then we know that the movie will be for people aged fifteen and above as
there will be themes of things like violence, sexual scenes or even something like bad
language.
• Social Media Links- In recent years movies have been including links to websites, social
media pages etc in their trailers as it helps promote the movie through word of mouth,
the more people who see the movie, visit their social media pages, watch trailers or visit
websites it means the bigger and impact word of mouth will have on the popularity of
the movie.
3. Codes and Conventions of Film Trailers:
• Music/Voice Over- Music over voice overs are an important feature of a film trailer as it can
make or break the trailer. The music chosen is a key indicated to the pace, pitch, genre and even
sometimes budget of a movie. The voiceover also is important as it is there to guide the viewer
through the trailer as it could doing things like introducing characters or giving an overview of
the plot.
• Name Captions- In all trailers there will be name captions for the important people included in
the movie such as actor's names, director and producer's names. These are important as if a
popular actor is shown to clearly be in a movie this will bring in more interest from people who
are fans of the actor or even fans of the producer (Like how people like Wes Anderson and
Quentin Tarantino have die hard followers who love their style of producing)
• Time Length- Typically a film trailer will be between one and two minutes in length with the
exception of trailers of horror movies which are commonly shorter and fast paced to help build
hype.
• Release Date- Including the release date is essential in a trailer as it lets the viewer know when
the movie is meant to come out. Trailers are commonly released a few weeks before the trailer
as it means more people have time to see the trailer and then increase the hype of the movie
before it releases. The release date is commonly shown towards the end of a trailer so that
the actual content of the trailer attracts audience attention and then gives them information
they need at the end.
4. The Social Dilemma:
-The Social Dilemma is a documentary that was made by Netflix
which focuses on social networks and how they exploit the
people who use them.
-The documentary received over thirty-eight million views within
the first four weeks of it being on the platform.
-The documentary won the webby award in 2021
-The documentary had also won two primetime Emmy awards.
-Since its debut, the documentary has been streamed in
approximately one hundred and ninety countries in thirty
languages. It has also now been viewed by over one hundred
million people.
-From the trailer we can tell this documentary is made for an
audience of older teenagers to adults and it is also shown clearly
this documentary was being made to entertain and inform the
viewer.
5. The Social Dilemma Trailer
Analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaC57tcci0
The documentary trailer begins with some suspensive music which is then joined by a
voiceover after four seconds which begins talking about google and the way that the
search suggestions are different based on the person. The music changes at around
1:10 to a more upbeat song in a way which coincides with the information that is
being shared at that point of the documentary. This then leads into the voiceover
beginning to talk more about the main topic of the documentary which seems to be
the dangers of social media and how the different functions are made that way to
"use your psychology against you." At various point in the trailer the Netflix logo is
shown in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen to show us clearly who the
documentary is created by. They also include the title of the documentary however
they wait until the end of the trailer (at around 2:14). They then transition from the
title of the documentary back to the logo of the production company however this
time the logo isn't the only thing on screen. At the bottom middle of the screen there
is the age certification of the documentary (PG-13) as well as the release date shown
clearly underneath the logo (September 9th, 2021).
6. This documentary trailer shows clearly that the information they are giving to the
audience is reliable as they show clearly that the people being interviewed are all people
who have been people who have all directly worked on different social media apps such
as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. They most likely included this on purpose so they
could build momentum for their documentary as the trailer only gives us a small amount
of information and we find ourselves wanting to know more from these people who have
inside information on the apps we use possibly every day. There are also pieces of
text that flash on the screen that give us little bits of information about the creators of
the documentary that almost make us feel that this will be a good documentary purely
because of who made it. These pieces of text also give us small bits of information on the
topic of the documentary which causes the excitement for the documentary to
raise within the viewer. This trailer follows the pattern with trailers as like most other
trailers this one remains within the 1–3-minute time limit that most film trailers stay
within. However, despite their being many different social media pages for the
documentary there are none actually included in the trailer which is slightly unusual as
this is common within trailers as it gives the viewer an easy way of sharing the
documentary and raising awareness about the documentary.
Social Dilemma Trailer Analysis: Page 2
7. David Attenborough: A life on our planet
-This documentary is clearly about David Attenborough and the planet. As
well as this it is said to focus on the impact the human race have on nature.
-The documentary did fairly well as it made over six hundred thousand dollars
at the box office.
-From the trailer we can tell this documentary was made for teenagers and
above due to the themes that were spoken about in this documentary.
-In 2021 the film was nominated for five Emmy Awards
Awards Won:
Bafta for Outstanding Cinematography for a Non Fiction program.
Bafta for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Non Fiction program.
Bafta for Outstanding music composition for a documentary series or special.
British Documentary award for Best Single Documentary
Televisual Bulldog award for Best In Show
Televisual Bulldog award for Best Specialist Factual.
Pongo Environmental Award
IFMCA award for Best Original Score for a documentary
Best Cinematography in a Variety, Sketch, Nonfiction, or Reality Program
Dublin Film Critics Circle Award for Best Documentary
Critics' Choice Award for Best Narration
8. A life on our planet trailer
analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64R2MYUt394&list=PLvahqwMqN4M
0fmh2gjEqNbUA3uCVMZbDB&index=63
Similarly, to the last documentary, this trailer begins with music and a voiceover. The
documentary begins with our celebrity narrator introducing himself and the theme of the
documentary. The documentary is narrated by David Attenborough due to the fact that
the documentary is about him and his "witness statement and vision for the future."
Throughout the music begins to get more and more intense as Attenborough begins
speaking about the way that humans have an extremely negative effect on the world
despite how wonderful it is in his eyes. There is a moment in the trailer where the music
pauses to create suspense as Attenborough speaks (at around the one-minute mark in
the trailer) before the music starts up again more intense than it had been the rest of the
trailer. The logo of the production company remains in the bottom right-hand corner of
the screen so we can see clearly who is making this product. The title for this
documentary is shown towards the end of the trailer (at 1:40) similarly to other
documentary trailers and the title then transitions to the Netflix logo which features the
release date of the documentary underneath it (October 4th 2020 ) which seems to be a
pattern in Netflix documentaries.
9. A life on our planet Trailer Analysis : Page 2
This trailer follows the time code and convention as it stays between one a three
minutes as it is exactly two minutes long. The trailer shows that this documentary
is intended to entertain the audience but also inform them on serious issues that
are happening all around the world due to us. We assume the information we
are being fed is in fact true due to the fact that there is a celebrity telling us them,
especially a person who famously talks about issues such as global warming and
climate change. We feel we can trust what he says due to the reputation he holds.
Netflix uses editing and phrasing to make the audience want to watch the
documentary after it's released and this is simply done by the way the end the
trailer. They end the documentary with the line "We need to learn how to work
with nature rather than against it.. And I'm going to tell you how." This vague
ending gives the viewer the motivation to wait for the release date so we can
watch the documentary and find out how Attenborough feels we can truly live on
earth alongside nature.
10. Comparison of the two trailers:
Similarities: Differences:
-Both Documentary trailers include the Netflix corner placed
in the bottom right-hand corner as well as the placement of
the release date being the same at the end of the trailer.
-Both titles are featured at the end of the documentaries'
trailer.
-Despite it being a common code and convention, there is no
social media links included in either of the documentary
trailers.
-The way that the two trailers are structured is very similar
although this may be because the two trailers were made by
the same company, Netflix.
-Both trailers include a voiceover atop of music with clips
flashing in the background related to what is being spoken
about.
-The two documentaries have different age ratings (A life on
our planet is PG however The Social Dilemma is 13 or above)
which means that the two documentaries have different target
audiences.
-The Social Dilemma actually includes their age rating in
their trailer however in the trailer for A Life On Our Planet no
age rating is included.
-A life On Our Planet's scenes outside of the interviews are all
real pieces of footage from the world/within nature however
in The Social Dilemma all of the scenes outside of the
interviews are all edited/fake or staged.
-The Social Dilemma was marketed on its own social media
page as well as through its website and reviews online
however A Life On Our Planet was mainly advertised by David
Attenborough himself on his instagram page as this way it
meant only people who were interested in him, or the subject
would be the ones to see about the documentary.
