The document discusses narrative structures in film trailers. It analyzes the narration of the author's teaser trailer, which uses an inferred nonlinear narrative to show a person being bullied over time through their online diary entries. This leaves the audience with puzzles around how the character will seek "revenge" by the end. The purpose of teaser trailers is achieved through this open-ended cliffhanger structure.

2. My teaser trailer in relation to
narrative
It is useful to consider the concept of narration into a teaser trailer
and although they are mainly montages with no real direction and
order of events it gives you a sense of what course the movie will
take.
For my teaser trailer the sense of how the story is told is very
understandable as it appears to show a person being bullied and
as the stress builds up within the victim you can see shots of him
writing an online diary with it ending on him writing down “I will get
my revenge” which gives a sense that the narrative shows a
person being bullied to the limits until they can no longer take it
and eventually deals with the matter in his own way.

3. Bordwell and Thompson
Bordwell and Thompson are very well credited for their ideas on plot and
summary, they say the term plot is used to describe everything that is visibly
and audibly present in the film before us. This shows that the story is merely a
combination of the entire sequence of events that is shown as well as
everything that we conclude has happened but is not shown.
In summary the plot is the explicit representation of the events this normally
less than the story and can also be in a different order films like this could
include: Pulp Fiction, (500) Days of Summer and The Social Network. The plot
however is all the events both those that are visually represented and those
that are inferred.
The difference between explicit and inferred is that explicit expresses all details
in a clear and obvious way leaving no doubt as to the intended meaning
whereas inferred means to conclude something on the basis of evidence or
reasoning.

4. Barthes’ ideas on enigma
Roland Barthes wrote about the action/enigma codes, the actions
codes are about images or sequences which work as a form of a
visual shorthand making complex ideas immediately apparent and
carrying the story forward. Enigma codes are about images or
sequences which control how much we know in the story, engaging
and holding audience interest. They present puzzles and demand to
be solved such as The Social Network.
Keeping on the idea of the enigma code it works to keep setting up
little puzzles to be solved which is not only at the beginning of the
story but also to delay the story’s ending pleasurably e.g. how will
Bruce Willis get out of his predicament?
Enigma codes can be described as either minor or major.

5. Narrative essay planning
What narrative structure does you trailer use? Linear/non-linear? Open/closed?
my teaser trailer follows an inferred narrative as there is not enough information
given and you have to conclude something on the basis of evidence or
reasoning, it is also shown in a non-linear as it has the main character writing
an online diary while it flashbacks to different parts of the movie. The teaser
also shows an open narrative as it is left with the main character writing “I will
get my revenge” on the online diary and leaving the trailer on a cliff-hanger
leaving the audience not knowing what the outcome will be.
How does this tie in with the purpose of a teaser trailer?
It ties in with the purpose of a teaser trailer as they are not supposed to
necessarily show the clips in order of when they would be in the movie and
more interesting clips would be used in montage to draw in an audience, a
trailer will also never normally show the end scene of the movie as that is why
you go to see the movie because you want to know the outcome.

6. Narrative essay planning
continued
What plot information is given and what may audiences infer about the story of the film?
the plot information given in my teaser trailer is that a person is being bullied and as he
struggles with it he starts and online diary detailing each encounter with the bullies, as it
gets more severe he pushes people away that want to help and the trailer ends with a
cliff-hanger. The audiences might infer that the character will end up doing serious
damage to himself or those inflicting pain upon him because of the text reading “I will get
my revenge”. The movie will naturally make people assume things as it is a thriller which
will entice viewers as they would want to know what happens and will also want to know
if their assumptions on what is going to happen become a reality
What enigma codes are there and what questions or puzzles are the audience left with?
The sequences controlled in the movie lead us to believe that this is happening over
months with a major clue of when the online diary shows different days one being “Day
259” which will entice viewers as it can be a slow burning film…contd

7. Narrative essay planning
continued
…which leads in a audience as they will see many things happening over the days and
wanting to know the outcome e.g. (500) Days of Summer. Major clues such as the main
character drinking energy drinks constantly and the constant bullying lead towards him
always being on edge and that he doesn’t get much sleep which brings in the
psychological element of the film and entices an audience to think what is going on in
their head and is the lack of sleep making everything worse.

8. Conclusion on the narrative of my
teaser trailer
In conclusion I feel as though my teaser trailer is very successful in making the narrative
in the teaser trailer serve the purpose of what is intended for it, it entices and audience
by leaving an open ending which makes an audience draw up their conclusions and
would like to see if they are right with those conclusions. A non-linear narrative to a
teaser trailer is very good at enticing an audience as it can showcase the best
looking/most interesting scenes within the movie trying to appeal to an audience as big
as possible. The major enigma clues also help to entice an audience as again it makes
the audience draw up their own suspicions and theories into what can happen with the
movie thus making them think if it is the right movie for them to watch or not.