Tzveten Todorov - Balanced and Unbalanced Equilibrium
Vladimir Propp -
Claude Levi-Strauss – Binary Opposition
Bordwell and Thompson - Narrative causing effects
Roland Barthes – Representation
Roland Barthes – Representation
At A2, I made a trailer for the film Imminent Threat as part of a promo pack consisting of a trailer, film poster and film magazine cover.
Narrative
My trailer shows the audience an ellipses of what will be occurring in this film containing short cut scenes, voiceovers and a montage aided with an effective soundtrack to create tension and mystery towards the end; This will grab their attention to find out what happens to the adolescents.
My trailer shows the audience an ellipses of what will be occurring in this film containing short cut scenes, voiceovers and a montage aided with an effective soundtrack to create tension and mystery towards the end; This will grab their attention to find out what happens to the adolescents.
My film genre is Action and Adventure alongside the Disaster aspect throughout the majority of the film. As such, there are genre codes and conventions that shape the narrative, such as fast and short cuts which emphasize specific parts of the trailer, motivated edits like a domino effect which is where one outcome results in another. In contrast, the Russian Theorist named Todorov came up with the Balanced and Unbalanced Equilibrium which is what happens in our film to grab the audience.
Narrative (character and plot) is handled significantly differently in a trailer from the way that it is done in a film because in a trailer - specifically Action genre - there are short scenes from the movie as well as a rapid montage of miraculous bits which the director knows will attract the target audience. Most film trailers contain a voice over which gives away an interesting part of the plot but adds extra suspense to engage your thoughts and want to find out the outcome. A crucial aspect when seeing a trailer for the first or second time is that there is nothing linking to the ending such as scenes of the actors and landscapes as the ending is a mystery.
A trailer must convey to its target audience who the central characters are very rapidly and efficiently, in particular, major narrative frameworks such as the heroes and villains, the central protagonist and his/her concerns, the central thrust of the plot. For Bordwell and Thompson (theorists), narrative is causing the effects like a chain of events - one aspect leading to another. This t
This theoretical framework fits with the way that I have handled my narrative because using different series of clips and varying the shot type like a 'shot-reverse-shot', 'tracking shot' and 'high angle aerial view shot' can help promote the story like spectacularly; However, using a chain of events of the main actors and their emotions in response to things that occur in the film, all in an chronological order will not spoil the main plot as this is the significant aspect of every film trailers.
It reflects what Barthes called the action code of narrative because due to our genre being Action, our trailer needs to be magnificent in its own unique way by consisting of fast cut clips for a rapid and intense montage to speed up the trailer in order to portray the actual intensity of the whole film and show action code.
A trailer must establish rapidly the values and beliefs of the central characters, to draw in the audience. For Levi-Strauss, this means establishing a set of binary oppositions that are clear, such as, in my film trailer there is conflict and tension between the adolescents, the important phone call they receive on their journey and the man they come across when travelling to the bunker all expands the narrative and adds a twist to keep the audience gripped.
Character ‘types’ are often used as part of the narrative framework as a short cut to help audiences grasp complex narrative. In a film, this often means stereotypes (such as in my trailer, the role of the foreigner who presents a national threat to security). For Propp, all narrative had a set of recurring character types. In my trailer, there are
Sound and vision editing are important in shaping the narrative structure of a trailer: the audience has only a couple of minutes to identify who the central characters are and what their aims and plans are. I achieved this in my narrative by using devices such as privileging my central character in the frame and through the use of close-ups. For instance, in my trailer there are reaction shots when the teenagers are faced with the national emergency notice on the television as well as the call from the mother warning them about the emergency, ensuring their safety. I also used sound carefully - there is precious little room for diegetic sound in terms of dialogue in a trailer, so one of my central characters is heard to say: 'We need to go now!' The voice over we use speaks for my central character to reveal his innermost thought when he is thinking about all of his loved ones.
The use of intertitles - between short scenes which usually creates a sentence when put together - clearly position what is going to happen in the movie through visual words like: 'Bring the Adventure' and other intertitles that state who made other well known movies in order to entice the audience into watching this new film. For example, if an audience member knows that Steven Spielberg is a well known director, in his trailers for his films he will have an intertitle that mentions that he is the director, or this could also be done with the studios that created a movie; There could be an intertitle that says: 'From the studios that brought you Contradiction'. These sort of intertitles will be used in our trailer in order to entice the audience as well as broaden the narrative to the audience. This is a clever way of grabbing the specific target audience if a fan loves a certain producer or director which means they will most likely go and see the movie they are involved with.
Trailer editing is very specific to the genre as it must build a sense of compelling urgency and invite audiences into the world of the film by hooking them through the narrative. I used sound codes to support my narrative as throughout the trailer will be a fast paced, orchestral symphony in order to convey rapid movement and action in the trailer.
All trailers use elliptical narrative, that is, present the broad brush strokes of the action (in order to hook the audience) whilst deliberately withholding the detailed mechanics (which would constitute a spoiler). In my trailer, we will show some defining moments of the movie, however parts of the film will not be shown in the trailer because that is where the audience can try and fill in the gaps to try and figure out the broad narrative.
Representation
I will analyse my A2 production in relation to audience. At A2, I made a promo pack of a Film Trailer, Film Poster and Film Magazine Cover to promote Imminent Threat.
The genre of my Film Trailer is Disaster in which 3 teenage brothers are at home when an Imminent North Korea nuclear attack. It is broadcasted globally in the news which results in them taking refuge at a bunker which they have to travel a long distance to get too. They have to set off alone on dangerous terrain in order to reach their parents. In our film, the boys face
Mise-en-scene is a key component as it is very important to create a bold atmosphere which sets the tone for the rest of the Film. Location was one of these important things as this helps the audience understand what is happening and how. For example, the slow motion handheld shot of the brothers running gave
I constructed careful representations of particular characters in my trailer through casting, clothing and dialogue. My central characters are typical adolescents which the audience can relate to as the target audience is 15-35+.
(WHY PARENTS IN THE FILM, REPRESENTATION)
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