Looking back at my blog so far, I have noticed that I have mainly covered the horror genre and have set the action genre to the side. Because of this I have decided that I'm going to cover a trailer for an action film trailer so that I can see what I can use when I create my own film trailer.
Above you can see a trailer for the film Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) which has been widely considered one of the greatest action films of all time by fans and critics alike. Fury Road is the fourth film in the franchise being released 20 years after the last film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). It's a reboot of the franchise and was directed by George Miller the same man who created the original trilogy. Surprisingly he also directed the animated children's film Happy Feet (2006) and Happy Feet Two (2011).
Genre
As I mentioned this film is part of the action genre which can be seen throughout the trailer through the many different action conventions. These include conventions such as explosions, face paced editing and fight scenes all of which are used to keep the scenes intense hyping up the audience as they watch the film. This means that after watching the trailer people will become interested in the film and follow its production which can be done by following their social media pages this helps create a larger audience for the film so that when it is released more people will go to see it making the company a larger profit.
Camerawork
Max jumps for the hook
The camerawork in the trailer is used to make scenes in the trailer look more dangerous to increase the tension and make the protagonist look more powerful. This can be seen near the start of the trailer when Max jumps off the cliff to grab hold off a crane hook. In this scene a long shot is used to show how high up Max is and if he misses the jump he would fall to his death. This is done to make the audience panic as we are unsure if Max makes the jump so we fear the worse and assume that he falls. This creates tension in the trailer putting the audience on the edge of their seats as they wonder what is going to happen next exciting them making them want to watch the rest of the trailer.
Hand held camera of Max nearly falling of a cliff it starts
shaking as soon as he stops moving
Also just before this scene when Max reaches the edge of the cliff a hand held camera is used the replicate the feeling of suddenly stopping as your whole body quickly jolts as you come to a halt which can be seen in the trailer as Max quickly stops before falling and you can see him move his arms in an attempt to keep his balance as the camera goes into a low angle shot showing us how deep the drop is. This has been used to catch the audience off guard as immediately before this scene Max is running through a dark corridor which makes many of us believe that he is trapped somewhere underground so we don't expect him to run through a door to nearly walk of a cliff because of this we feel the same way as Max feels as by looking at his facial expression as he opens the door you can see that he looks shock which tells me that he was surprised finding out how high up he actually is.
Editing
The Chase scene notice how the camera frequently cuts
to different points of view to make it more intense
The editing throughout the trailer is almost entirely faced paced with very few scenes where it slows down. This can be best seen at the start of the trailer which begins with Max being chased through a tunnel by a group of War boys the henchmen of the films antagonist Immortan Joe. During this the camera is quickly cutting from scene to scene showing the chase from a variety of different perspectives going from behind max to in front of him. This creates more tension in the scene as it happens with no context which make the audience question what is going to happen next exciting them but also making them nervous as we don't know if Max is going to escape or get captured by the War boys.
After this the pace slows down as the chase ends and during this period we are shown a slow montage of a variety of different places and characters. The most notable shots that we seen in the montage are as follows:
Immortan's insignia
We firstly see a person wielding a molten hot pole with Immortan Joe's insignia on it we are then shown are person with the insignia branded onto the back of their neck. This has been done to show us that Immortan Joe is a vicious leader as it shows he brands people which means that he owns them as if they were property to him and this has all been done before we even know what he looks which makes the audience fear him even more as we imagine him to be the worse possible thing we can think off.
Immortan Joe
However, after this next shot we are finally shown what Immortan Joe looks like and while it is only brief the scene is very effective. This is because while showing him to us we are only shown his face which has a very monster like appearance to it which makes the audience fear him even more as we don't acknowledge him as being human instead comparing him to a beast.
The citadel
The final shot from the montage that I'll be talking about is a shot of the citadel one of the main locations in the film as it is the home to Immortan Joe. The biggest thing that I can see in this shot is that in the top corner on the cliff face you can see what appears to be Joe's insignia carved into the wall which further shows his power as he owns the entire citadel. The next thing that I can see is the large amount of people in the shot. While this is only speculation these people are most likely the lowest people in Immortan Joe's kingdom making them scavengers. I believe this has been done to make the audience feel sympathetic towards them as they literally have no power whatsoever as they the most weakest and feeble people and are at Joe's mercy.
Night Filter
One of the most important editing techniques used in the trailer is through the use of camera filters to change the colours within the scenes to make them look more vibrant and give them different atmospheres. The most noticable one in the trailer is the night time filter that is used which makes the nights appear as being very dark with a blue tint giving a lonely, cold atmosphere which makes the audience feel as if they were there which makes them feel alone and powerless.
Mise-en-scene
A Buzzards vehicle
The War Rig
Mise-en-scene is a very important in the trailer as there are many unique props used that make the Mad Max films stand out from many other action films. This can be seen throughout the trailer through the variety of different vehicles of all shapes and sizes from the giant war rig to the smaller but more deadly buzzards which have been customised to be covered in metal spikes from all over to prevent people from grabbing hold of the car. These are important props within the Mad Max films as they are used for almost every fight sequence in the films and this can be see in the trailer as in many of the fights instead of people hitting each other they are ramming their vehicles into each other making their enemies explode. They have been used to make action scenes more intense as it allows the directors to create more deadly scenes very quickly as they can use many more explosions as all the cars would be falling to pieces during a fight and this would eventually lead to them being destroyed this is also easy to perform with cars as if it were just the actors fighting hand to hand it would require a larger build up before the explosion happens as it would be the pinnacle moment in the scene. For audiences this would put them on the edge of their seats as there is so many explosions happening there is never a moment in the trailer were the action completely dies down making them enjoy the trailer more hyping them up for the release of the full film.
Sound
The sound within the trailer also stands out a lot compared to other trailers as it starts with mainly diegetic sounds coming from Max as he runs through the corridors we also hear Max's thoughts as he is running you can hear that an echo effect has been used on his voice to make it sound more clearer and more powerful. After this the soundtrack begins starting off slow and quiet which creates an eerie atmosphere which draws the audience in as they wonder what they are going to see in the trailer. We then hear a speech being performed by Immortan Joe talking about how his people will rise from the ashes of the world as the film takes place in a post apocalyptic earth. I believe this has been done to make Immortan at first sound like a heroic leader who is giving hope to his people claiming they will create a new world this makes the audience view him as a good person at first.
Immortan's Insignia on one of his
wives clothing
In contrast immediatly after this scene we see Immortan's true colours as he finds out that his 'property' has been stolen and demanding that the person who helped them escape this him 'where they are taking them'. At first we are unaware of what he means by property as it could be somnething such as treasure or food however later in the trailer we find out that the property is all of Immortan's wives who he has been keeping locked up as if they were his hostages and we can tell that thye are his property as a close-up is used on one of the girls clothes as they are branded with Joe's insignia. This shows us that he actually is an evil person who likes to own people as if they were objects and not people this is so that the audience start to grow hatred for Immortan long before we actually see him do anything that action villans conventionally do such as killing/capturing people.
Over the years representation in the Horror Action genre has greatly changed this is due to the changes within our society and what we see as positive and negative. To analyse this change I'm going to analyse two trailer one old and the other modern which will hopefully allow me to see a clear difference between them. I'll be focusing on a variety of stereotypes and how they are being represented in my two trailers however I believe that both trailers represent disability in a unique way so I will be slightly focusing on them more than other representations.
Trailer 1: The Shining (1980)
The first trailer that I'll be analysing is the Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. As the trailer starts we hear a monologue from one of the films characters talking about the hotel and how its previous caretaker had a mental breakdown and kill his family. This already paints as dark picture for the representation of the disability in the horror genre as it makes the audience believe that this could happen to someone in relief. This shows us one of the key mental disorders within the film and trailer cabin fever which is a term to describe when someone or a group of people are isolated from the society for an extended time and how they start to lose their minds as they start to distrust each other while others may wish to go outside even if they are forced to stay inside. Cabin fever can occur in many ways even in something mundane such as spending time in a cottage away in the countryside. This gives us a further negative representation on disabilities as it makes the audience believe this could happen to anyone and can be summed up in the trailer when one of the characters states 'Isolation of itself can become problem' while zooming in on Jack Torrance (The films antagonists) face showing us that he is slowly but gradually losing his mind.
Wendy panics as Jack breaks down
the door
Another representation that I can clearly see in the trailer is how gender is portrayed within the trailer which like disability is shown to us as being a negative representation. This can be seen throughout the trailer as the character Wendy Torrance is shown to be a stereotypical woman as see is shown to be weaker as we see her screaming and panicking hysterically while Jack breaks the door down with an axe in the famous Here's Johnny scene. This is a negative scene as she is shown to be weaker than any other character in the trailer we see crying as she fears for her life which happens to no other character except her which implies that she is the weakest character which is a negative stereotype of women as they were seen to be physically and mentally weaker than men suggesting they were inferior to men in every way. In addition to this scene we also have a scene which shows Wendy running away from someone why it is never revealed in the trailer it can be implied that it is Jack chasing her. This scene also shows women in a negative way as it shows her running away from Jack as it's the only thing that she can do as if she stayed to fight she would of most likely been overpowered and ultimately killed. Her role in the films conforms with Propp's character type of the princess which is a women who is feeble and useless which would end up placing her in dire situations which would require a hero to save her. However in the horror genre there are no heroes to save the princess which we see through Wendy as no one comes to help her escape Jack who is hunting her down so she has to survive by herself which but she is to weak to flee which eventually leads her to getting trapped in the bathroom while Jack breaks the door down making the audience believe she has meet her doom. Propp's character type for the princess also appears in the action genre only this time known as the damsel in distress. In addition the princess character also appears in the Horror genre through the victim character type which is nearly the exact same as the princess except the victim will usually be killed by the antagonist.
Wendy waking Jack up from his
nightmare as he falls off his
chair
However, we also see gender being represented in the trailer in a way which subverts traditional conventions. This can be in the trailer from 1:14 - 1:26 as we first hear Jack groaning but it slowly changes to screaming as we see Wendy run in where we find out Jack had a dream where he killed her and their son Danny Torrence. This scene subverts from traditional stereotypes as it shows a male character in a weakened as he is on the floor crying while the female character helps him up swapping the genders role which makes this scene very conventional for its time as it is showing the woman is in power.
Danny screaming
Another interesting representation in the trailer is how age is shown more specifically how children are portrayed. In the trailer I can see two major representations of children the first comes from Danny Torrence as he is shown throughout the trailer in a several different ways. We first see him asking his mother what she thinks of the hotel that they are going to be staying at for her to reply that 'it's going to be fun' and as soon as she says that we get a jumpscare of Danny screaming as the screen fades to white which could suggest that the is being attacked. It is common for their to be scenes in horror films where children are scared as it will normally be followed by a sting which would be them screaming as children will have higher pitched voices. The next time we see Danny is near the end of the trailer the scene I'll be talking about is when Jack is sitting on the bed and beckons Danny to come over to him an when he does Jack starts to caress him in a sinister way. This is a extremely negative representation of age as it suggests that a child can be easily manipulated by someone including people they are very close to such as their family. The reason that children are portrayed as being scary in the horror genre is because of what children represent, children are usually shown to be innocent and simple minded without having a care in the world about what goes on around them which is what adults are aware of. Because of this many adults view children in a way which makes them feel positive and nostalgic as they remember a simpler time where nothing matter. But when a horror film like The Shining comes out and conveys children negatively it clashes with how many adults view them and because of this confusion we fear them as people are afraid of what they don't understand.
The Twins
Looking at other scenes in the trailer I can see another representation of age which is through the twins who appear near the end of the trailer. While their appearance is brief they convey a very strong stereotype in the horror genre. The stereotype is that children who appear in horror films are linked to the demonic and supernatural usually being possessed by the antagonist of the film. In the trailer while we don't see them being possessed it is applied through the monologue at the start of the trailer that they are ghosts haunting the hotel. Furthermore the camerawork makes them look even more sinister as it starts with a long shot of them standing at the other end of a long corridor the camera then suddenly cuts to a mid shot of the girls which allows us to get a closer look at their faces which shows that they are blank and expressionless the camera cuts again only slightly moving us closer to the twins. I believe this was done to scare the audience as they would fear that a jumpscare was going to happen as we were slowly getting closer to the girls so we expect that when we get close enough they are going to jump out at us. The twins are terrifying for a similar reason to why children are scarier in the horror genre as in the trailer they appear out of nowhere and when they are immediately on screen the camera focuses on hem making them seem very important this confuses the audience as they don't know what is going on and as this scene goes by so quickly it makes the audience question if it ever happened to begin with. Furthermore as they are twins the audience may not notice it at first only noticing that they have similar clothing but when the camera closes in on their faces and notice they look identical they will either realise they are twins or think that the film is doing this to mess with their mind which makes them fear the twins as they don't know what they are.
Trailer 2: Split (2016)
Two of the split personalities shown in the trailer the right
having the mind of a child
The second trailer that I'll be analysing is for director M Night Shyamalan's latest film Split. The trailer starts off with an equilibrium as it starts with some girls coming home from a shopping trip however when they are getting into their car they notice a mysterious man sitting next to them who proceeds to knock them unconscious. After this scene it's revealed that the man was told to catch them 'for a reason' but we don't know who is this person is. However later on we see the same person this time wearing women's clothes in addition he has lost the accent that he had earlier. This is where we first see that the antagonist has Dissociative identity disorder (DID) which means that he has multiple personalities called alters inside of his head and as shown in the trailer can have a different age, gender and accent. In the trailer DID is represented in a very negative way as it conveys people with the disability as being sociopaths who have no remorse and enjoy watching people suffer, sociopaths are also shown to be unable to interact with other people in society making them appear as being antisocial people. This is all confirmed in the trailer when we see the psychologist character say that Kevin (the antagonist's real name) has 23 different personalities living inside his minds.
Hedwig's picture of The Beast
One of the biggest negative representations of divisibility in the trailer is through one of Kevin's alters in the trailer only known as The Beast. We never see The Beast in the trailer with the only things to go on are pictures drawn by Kevin's alter Hedwig which convey The Beast as being an evil, monstrous entity which wants to be the dominant mind in Kevin's body which can be seen in the picture as the beast (left) is towering over small people who most likely represent the other alters and notice how it is holding one of them in its hands which could imply that it is slowly eliminating the other alters to ultimately become the strongest mind. This is a negative representation of DID as it makes it look like that people who have this mental disability are disturbed, violent people.
Girl attacks Kevin allowing her to escape
Another representation that I can see in the trailer is the representation of gender as all of the main protagonists are women. Furthermore they are all captured by Kevin and are placed in cells and throughout the rest of the trailer they are attempting to escape Kevin's clutches which can be seen later in the trailer as they are shown climbing into the air vents in an attempt to escape. This shows women in both a positive and negative way. Firstly the positives, throughout the trailer we see the girls doing whatever they can to escape such as the already mentioned air vent escape. we also see one of them attack Kevin allowing them to flee which then cuts to her picking up the radio and calling for help. This shows the audience that women are capable of holding their own in a fight even when they are fighting a physically stronger person even managing to hurt them this subverts from stereotypes as women were frequently shown to be weaker than men as I stated in the shining post. However, in this scene we see her outclassing a man in a fight which makes her look more powerful over him.
Girl convincing Hedwig to help them escape
I can also see women being represented in a positive way in another scene in the trailer is when they meet Hedwig one of Kevin's alters who is a 9 year old boy. Because of this Kevin mind changes to that of a child which allows the girls to manipulate him into letting them out of the cell and helping them escape. This is a positive representation of women as it shows the audience that they can also be strong mentally as they can talk their way out of dangerous situation instead of only being able to fight their way out if problems. As you can see women are represented very positively in the trailer as all of the protagonists we see are female so if they were all shown to be weak and powerless against the antagonist who just so happens to be male would be seen as very controversial and unconventional especially since it was only released just over a year ago so many of its representations would reflect modern times. In addition, it also subverts but also conforms with theorists such as Angela Mcrobbie who stated in 2003 that women can be strong independent and determined but can also use their sexuality to manipulate people to keep control of the situation. Now the girls in the trailer are shown to be independent as they all have to work together to escape with no help which also shows them as smart conforming to the theory. But, the girls also subvert from Angela's theory as we never see them utilise their sexuality to get them out of a tough situation except possibly when one of them demands Hedwig to help them escape but she doesn't do anything that could be considered sexual as she just straight up asks for help.
When my group creates are film trailer we will contain representations conventional to our films genre just to make them more entertaining to watch as if we did represent everyone accurately to the how they are in real life the audience may find the film to realistic and many people see film as a way to escape real life and immerse themselves in another world so the last thing a film would want to do is make you think of real life.
After analysing several Horror film trailers in detail I have decided to look in depth about the conventions within the trailers so I can see what I can use when my group create our film trailer. This blog post is going to be sectioned in to 3 parts Horror trailer conventions, Action trailer conventions and Film trailer conventions.
Horror Trailer Conventions
One of the most common conventions of a horror trailer are that the trailer always starts with an equilibrium normally showing a group of protagonists having fun or planning on going somewhere. However, the equilibrium will be quickly disrupted in some way usually with one of the protagonists being attacked by the antagonist. After this the trailer will become much more intense which can be seen through the sound in the trailer as we will hear intense, dramatic music to increase the tension to scare the audience. Furthermore, a music sting is a common convention in the horror trailer as catch the audience off guard because of how sudden it is. This is similar to Tzvetan Todorov's (1973) 4 act theory which states that a film while begin at a equilibrium only for it to be disrupted and the film being about repairing it.
Another common convention that we can see in horror film trailers is that we will see at least one character get killed or injured by the antagonist to show the audience how much of a threat they are to the characters in the trailer. Also this can be used by producers to hint at who is going to die in the film when it released as it will make the audience start to speculate about what is happening in the trailer compelling them to go and see it which would make the producers a larger profit.
The setting in a horror trailer can also be very conventional as it will mostly be set in a very isolated location far away from civilisation this is so that the protagonists are truly alone and at the mercy of a deranged killer this location could be many things such as the middle of a forest, an abandoned town or campsite. In Addition, the location will usually be seen during at night time as it helps create a dark and gritty atmosphere within the trailer to further increase the suspense and tension in the trailer.
The Camerawork in horror trailers are also very conventional as they are used to make some scenes more intense for example a low angle shot is commonly used to make the antagonist look superior to the protagonists in the film as if they were looking up to them making them feel as if they could never be as strong as them. There is also a high angle shot which does the exact opposite of a low angle shot as it is used to make someone seem inferior to the world around them as if they were being looked down on which it is how it is commonly used as the antagonist is normally taller than the protagonists so that they feel powerless towards them.
Here you can see the trailer for the film A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) which I'll be analysing.
Unlike many other Horror trailers the trailer places us already in to the horror instead of it being about the equilibrium being disrupted. The first thing that stands out to me is when one of the people chasing the man gets out of his car and shouts 'Krueger' this is the first indication this is a Nightmare on Elm Street films which will immediately hype up fans of the series as they are getting a new film we also see this when the factory is being burned down as before he dies Freddy takes his jacket off revealing his signature stripped sweater to further help attract audiences to the film.
After the factory burns down the trailer cuts to black and the producers name appears which is in a dark red colour with blood splatters surrounding it. This is a convention of the horror genre as the colour red is normally associated with hatred, death and blood hence why the font is this colour. In addition as it shows the producers name fans of his work may be more interested in going to see his new film to see if they will enjoy it.
After this scene we see that the characters start having dreams and are shown a variety of bizarre scenes such as a room where it is snowing inside of and a room full of candles. These scenes are shown to confuse the audience so that they acknowledge that what they are seeing is part of a dream so nothing is supposed to make sense. This scares the audience as it makes it impossible for them to predict what is going to happen next so they brace themselves for the worst possible situation increasing the suspense and tension in the trailer.
Freddy's knife glove
We are then shown a close-up shot of Freddy Krueger's signature knife glove as he scrapes it against the wall creating sparks which light up the scene. As you can see in the scene we can see a ghostly figure of what we assume to be Freddy's next victim this has been done so that the audience can place themselves in the victims situation which makes them feel scared and nervous as they know that they are going to be killed and they are powerless to stop him.
We later see this same scene this time from the victims perspective showing Freddy walking towards us during this we can hear his laughter in the background. This has also been done to make the audience feel like they are trapped in that corridor with Freddy Krueger which creates suspense and tension as they have no idea how they are going to get out of that of trouble. After this scene we get a shot of the Elm street sign this has been done for similar reasons I mentioned earlier so that fans can immediately recognise this as one of those films which will lead to them wanting to go and see the film making the producers a larger profit.
Freddy's hand rises through the bath tub
After this sequence we can hear in the background girls chanting Freddy's theme song which the characters hear in their dreams before they are killed this makes the trailer more suspenseful as it creates an ominous atmosphere as it as children are stereotypical associated with the demonic and supernatural in horror films. We are then shown a montage of Freddy attacking his victims in their dreams in a variety of ways one of the most shocking one of these is his hand rising through a bath tub that one of his victims are sleeping in. This shows themes of the horror convention of punishing promiscuity which is people being killed in horror films for acting very sexual and while we do not see this happening in the trailer it may be a hint of what occurs in the film.
Going to the end of the trailer the last shot that we see is Freddy approaching one of his victims raising his arm and saying 'this won't hurt one little bit' the trailer then cuts away. This has been done as in many of his films before he kills his victims Freddy says a one liner referring to the way that they are dieing. For example, one of his most iconic one liners comes from Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) when he kills Jennifer by crushing her with a TV he says 'Welcome to prime time Bitch!'. Looking at what Freddy says in the trailer it suggests that he is killing his victim in a hospital as a doctor would normally tell you that what they are about to do with you wouldn't hurt even though it will hurt. This implies that Freddy is putting her into a false sense of security before killing her which shows us how evil Freddy is.
Action Trailer Conventions
Action film trailers play out very differently to horror film trailers this can be seen from the start of them as we are usually place right into the middle of all the action which we can see as the editing will be fast paced cutting to different parts of the action to excite the audience. The soundtrack will be loud and thrilling which gets the audiences blood pumping hyping them up for the films release. The trailer is also edited to keep the action going which means that there will never be a scene in the trailer without any action which helps make sure the audience doesn't lose interest while watching.
The action in the trailers is usually portrayed as being over the top showing off some of the best parts of the action scenes which is also used so that the audience doesn't lose interest in the film. During these scenes we will usually see violent fight scenes and large explosions which are cut together so that they fit with the trailers soundtrack. This means that the trailer will be more enjoyable to watch is it makes it somewhat similar to a music video as the music normally conforms with what is being shown on scene.
As I briefly mentioned explosions and other special effects are used to make the action scenes more thrilling as an explosion can be seen as the pinnacle of an action scene as many trailers will be building up to the explosion which can be done in a multitude of ways such as having the soundtrack get louder, the editing becomes more fast paced or by showing the scene just before the explosion so that we can see the characters in the trailer realise what is about to happen. All of these methods help raise the suspense and tension in the trailer which makes the initial explosion much more overwhelming.
Another interesting convention in action film trailers can be having the heroic protagonist some comedic moments in the trailer this normally done through the use of one liners. While these more commonly used in action from the 1980's they are still used in many action films today and are used to lower the tension but still entertain the audience.
Here you can see the trailer for Mission Impossible (1996) a very conventional action film trailer which I'll be analysing.
The trailer starts with a ambient silence with no music playing we then hear a monologue of a man giving a mission to a spy during this he mentions that if he is caught the government will erase all information on him. This creates suspense and tension within the trailer so that the audience understands that this mans is on a life or death mission and is fighting for his life making them feel uncertain as they are unaware of what is going to happen. During this scene the editing is slow paced showing us several other spies who will be on this mission slowly fading from one to the other. This has also been done to also create suspense as it shows us more of whats at stake as all of these people may potentially die so we fear for their lives.
After this we see a man lighting a match which he uses to ignite an explosive, while we don't see the explosion go off we see that the match has been used to start the mission impossible theme which plays throughout the rest of the trailer. The main feeling that you get from the song is that you are sneaking around hiding from your enemies so that they don't see you in other words this song makes you feel like you are a spy which helps immerse the audience as they feel that they are in the the same situation as the rest of the characters. Immediately after this in big bold writing we see Tom Cruise's name appear who is playing the main role in the film this is an example of a trailer focusing on its most famous actor as no other actors names appear in the trailer so they are using Tom Cruise's name to make more people go to see their film increasing the production companies profits.
Action scene from the trailer
After this the editing becomes more faster paced as the action starts where we see scenes of Tom Cruise sneaking through air vents, fighting guards and being suspended in mid air. This has been done to excite the audience as we see Tom Cruise doing things insane feats which thrills the audience as they we see how brave and fearless he is which are conventions of an action hero this will also hype the audience up for when the film is released as they would want to see more of the action scenes like what they have seen in the trailer. This makes Tom Cruise's role fit the role of the hero which was created by Vladimir Propp in 1928 as part of his narrative theory. Tom's character fits this role as he is shown to be strong and fierce as if nothing could stop him as if he was invincible.
The next action convention we see is the use of an explosion to destroy a car this is used to be the pinnacle of the action as the first explosions sends the car flying which shows us how much of a threat the explosion was as it throw a car as if it was a toy. Suddenly, another explosion occurs engulfing the car inflames this has been done to catch audience members off guards who thought the explosion was over but also to show us how much danger Tom Cruise's character is constantly put through which makes the audience feel sympathy for him but also shows him as being a powerful person as he manages to survive through all of this.
Burning Helicopter stunt
However, the action doesn't truly start until we get to the end of the trailer were the last scenes are in very fast paced editing showing Tom Cruise doing things many people would consider to be impossible such a jumping from a burning helicopter onto a moving train barely getting onto it this is a convention of the action hero stereotype as they are shown to live through the impossible in spectacular way which can also be seen in the trailer when he is running from a flood destroying everything in its path. All of these insane action scenes can be summed up by the trailers tag line 'Expect the Impossible'.
Film Trailer Conventions
Twisted Pictures logo
These conventions of are by films from all different genres which makes them universal conventions these will mostly be used to make my groups film trailer look more genuine and professional. The first convention is that the production companies logo will be shown off before the trailer starts this is so that the audience can immediately recognise what type of the film they are going to be watching as many film production companies focus on a certain genre of film for example Twisted Pictures who are known for creating the Saw series are known for creating horror films.
The next convention is the films name appearing in the trailer. They usually appear at the ending of the trailer including the date that the film is set to appear in cinemas (if the date is unknown it will be replaced with coming soon followed by the year of release). The title of the film will be in big bold writing so that it stands out and can be viewed easily by a larger audience.
In addition, the trailers will normally focus on the most famous actor who plays a role in the film this is to attract a larger audience to the film as many people will recognise the actor and if they enjoy films that they have already appeared in it will compel them to see their upcoming film. For an example look at the above Mission Impossible trailer as you'll notice that it mainly focuses on Tom Cruises character.
Social media platforms which the films trailers may have
links to
Also, at the very end of the trailer their will be a link to the films social media page this is allows fans of the film to be able to discuss the film with other fans so they can all share their thoughts on the film as a whole. This helps create buzz for the film as it gets people talking about it before it is released so more people will go to see it when it does come out in cinemas.
BBFC film ratings many horror
action films would be either 15
or 18 depending on the content
Arguably one of the most important conventions for film trailers is having their certified rating appearing in the film as this will be the determining factor for who can and can't see the film as if it is rated 18 only adults will be see the film which can be considered as limiting the audience for the film depending on its genre such as action adventure films which are usually made so that both adults and children can enjoy the film.
After looking at all of these trailer conventions I will try to see which ones would be possible for my group to use for our film as we would not be able to create things such as special effects any were near as good as trailers made by film companies. I have made a list summing up the conventions I would like to use the most in my film trailer that are in the realm of possibility:
Have one of the characters killed on screen to make the antagonist more threatening
Conventional horror camerawork to emphasise who has the power in the trailer and create suspense and tension
Fast paced editing during the action sequences to make them more intense and exciting for the audience to watch
An action movie one liner to lower the tension for comedic value most likely will be followed by a jumpscare as audience will be in a state of laughter and relaxation
Include generic film trailer conventions (certificate, film company, etc) to make it look more professional
Last week I saw the film IT (2017) a remake of the classic miniseries from the 1990's however I had never watched the original so I felt like I couldn't give a proper comparison of both films until I had seen both of them so yesterday I watched the entirety of the original miniseries. Something I should mention is that the new film is only the first half of the story with a continuation currently in the works. However, in the miniseries it covers the entirety of the story starting when the Loser club were kids and ending with them returning to Derry (the fictional town the film takes place in) as adults to kill It for good. I mention this because I will be discussing plot points that may appear in the 2017 films continuation so beware for spoilers.
IT (1990) Poster
Overall after watching the miniseries I enjoyed it the original was no where near as scary is its remake however it still has a creepy vibe surrounding it which still manages to catch the audience of guard sometimes. The first part of the miniseries is fairly similar to the remake with some scenes altered to make them more scarier. This can be seen at the start of the miniseries when Georgie has to go into the basement to get some wax to help his paper boat float, while this scene is in the 2017 version has been extended as when Georgie goes down the stairs he grabs the wax and sees what appear to be two glowing eyes staring at him making him quickly run up the stairs whereas in the original Georgie runs down the stairs grabs the wax and immediately runs back up the stairs. I believe this scene was extended in the remake to make it more tense for the audience and surprise people who watched the original as they would be unaware of this scene and be caught off guard by it. One of the biggest noticeable changes is Georgie's death scene in the original never see him die instead we get a close-up of Pennywise's teeth as he eats Georgie whereas in the remake Pennywise rips Georgie's arm of making Georgie crawl away fro the drain but It grabs him and pulls him into the drain. I believe this was done to make Georgie's death look more horrific and gruesome and show It is a merciless killer.
One big difference between the films that I want to discuss
in further detail is the portrayal of Pennywise in the miniseries. You may
remember in my IT (2017) analysis I mentioned that I was basing Tim Curry's
Pennywise on the clips I had seen of him but now that I've watched the original
I would like to discuss his role as the killer clown. In my opinion, I still
believe that Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise is by far the most terrifying as he
plays the character as a psychopathic manic clown which can be summed up by the
signature smile that Bill created for the character which he created when he
used to chase his brother around the house. Now looking at Tim Curry's
Pennywise the most noticeable difference in his portrayal is he is plays
Pennywise in a much more comedic tone compared to Bill with Tim cracking jokes
in many of the scenes that he is in with some poking fun at the characters such
as when Bill Denbrough returns to Derry as an adult Pennywise mocks his stutter
pronouncing his name as 'B-b-b-Billy boy' Pennywise referring Bill as boy also
makes him seem inferior to It. In addition, we also get scenes such as
when Richie returns as an adult and Pennywise is saying that they are to old
to kill him only to then say out of know where 'Excuse me ma'am is your
refrigerator running? *Gasp* It is!? well, you better go catch it before it
runs away! A-HA A-HA A-HA' this turns a very serious scene into a comedic which
makes it loose all of the tension that it had.
The Library scene much of Pennywise's dialogue is much more humorous then scary
Like I did with the remake I'll now talk about different elements and conventions in the miniseries that I could use for inspiration for my Horror Action trailer. Looking at the sound throughout the miniseries a lot of the music sounds very similar to the happy cheery music you would hear at a circus however its use in the miniseries is usually during scenes where It is scaring the kids/adults such as when he makes loads of balloons appear that explode covering the library with blood. I think I could use this convention for my trailer by inserting music that sounds much more positive than what is actually going on in the scene to bewilder the audience as they are uncertain of how they should feel during this scene. Another convention that I believe that I could use is having the antagonist in the trailer mock/taunt the characters show that they are superior to them making the protagonists seem weaker.
The Horror genre has been around for over 100 years beginning as silent short films created in the later 1800's. Since then the genre itself has became on of the most popular genres in film history spawning countless film franchises from around the world. One of the most important moments in the horror genres history was in the rise of hybrid genres which allowed film producers to become more creative when making films.
Here you can see a prezi that I have created that shows the origins of the horror genre since the 1800's all the way to modern day.
As you can see the Horror action genre first began with the release of Psycho (1960) which was one of the first globally successful Slasher film. After the films release many other film producers started creating their own Slasher films attempting to capitalise on Psychos success this lead to some of the most iconic horror films of all time to be created such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) which helped boost the Slasher genre even further with critics clamming that it 'set a new standard for slasher films' and without Leatherface the films iconic antagonist we may of never seen arguably the most famous Slasher antagonist of all time Jason Voorhees from the just as famous Friday the 13th film series.
However, you may notice that my prezi mainly focuses on the horror genre and how that lead to the creation of the horror action genre so I have also created a prezi showing the history of the action genre and how it lead to the creation of the horror action genre.
After researching the history of the Horror and Action genres and how they became a hybrid genre I can see that it conforms with Jane Feuer's 1992 theory as over the years the genres have become more abstract as they weren't just a single genre as within them you have dozens of different sub genres all with unique conventions and themes only seen in those films. Genres then became harder to identify as they then started to combine creating hybrid genres which took popular conventions from a multitude of genres and fused them into one uniting fans from a variety of genres. This also conforms with Henry Jenkins (2006) theory on how genres are breaking the rules which allows them to hybridise more creating unique films.
Warning: Due to the film only being released recently at the time of this blog posts release I should warn you that this post does contain spoilers for the film
On the coming Sunday I'm going to be seeing the horror film IT (2017) a remake of the classic horror TV miniseries of the same name released back in 1990, interestingly the film was released 27 years after the miniseries finished referencing the antagonist It who appears every 27 years to kill its victims, this is also an adaptation of the novel written by Steven King published in 1986. The reason I'm going to see this film is because it is one of the most successful horror films of in recent years grossing an estimate of $100 million in its opening week this tells me that it has been successful scaring its audiences so I will watch the film and see what I can take as inspiration for my groups film trailer so that it will be able to scare 2017 audiences. I will update this blog post after I have watched the film.
IT 2017 poster
I have just got home from watching the film an overall I thought the film was fantastic as someone who never saw the original series nor read the novel I went in completely blind only knowing basic information about the films plot. The main ways that the film scares its audience is through the use of sound and cinematography. Sound is used in multiple ways for example when the loser club (the group of protagonists) enter the well hole (It's lair) they immediately get separated when Bill Denbrough one of the films protagonists chases after what appears to be his dead brother Georgie Denbrough who was killed by It a year prior to the events of the film but bill still forces himself to believe that his brother is alive and goes after him. During this scene you hear loud high pitched string instruments playing as the camera goes to a P.O.V shot as Bill goes around all of the turns in the sewage pipe the sound has been used like this to create suspense and tension as we are put in the place of bill and we can only see what he can see so we are unaware of where It will jump out from.
Furthermore, in many other the scenes the music is replaced by ambient silence which makes the audience uncomfortable as we a unsure about what is going to happen yet we know that something is going to happen this is used throughout the however one scene where this stands out the most for me is the scene where Beverly Marsh another loser club member hides from her father in the bathroom who is shown to have some bizarre sexual interest in her making her always call him daddy and saying that 'your still my little girl... right?' while stroking her hair this ultimately leads to Beverly hitting her father in the face with a toilet seat presumably killing him then the music goes silent as a high angle shot is used looking down on her fathers body and then suddenly the camera cuts to a low angle shot of Beverly stepping away from her father only to show It in the form of Pennywise the clown (It's most iconic form) towering behind her as it abducts her leaving the message 'YOU DIE IF YOU TRY' written in blood on the wall for the rest of the loser gang to see showing us It is taunting the protagonists challenging them to come after it.
Both versions of Pennywise the Clown the left is Tim Curry
and the right is Bill Skarsgård while they are both different
they still accurately portray the murderous clown
Many of the themes in film revolves the psychological horror films as It uses the main characters personal fears against them as he feeds of their fear. In addition the reason why It only kills children is because their fears are more easily to take advantage of compared to an adults. This can be seen through It's appearance as he takes the form of an traditional circus clown as it the fear of clowns is common among many young children usually because of the bizarre costumes and make-up that they wear makes them look inhuman. This can be seen by looking at Pennywise in both the film and miniseries wearing white face make-up making It look pale and lifeless showing the audience that It is a soulless creature. Both versions also have unique teeth with the Curry's version having sharp monstrous teeth whereas Skarsgårdversion is more human like but abnormally large Skarsgård's costume is also consists of shades of white and black with small parts of red on it making his costume look much more like a traditional clown costume whereas Curry's costume was much more colourful consisting of vibrant blues and yellows giving him a more cartoonish design even including a traditional red clown nose whereas Skarsgård nose is just has red make-up. Personally I find Skarsgård's Pennywise is more terrifying mainly through his acting skills as he truly sounds like a psychotic killer such as when he tricks Georgie into giving him his hand by offering to give him a balloon which when combined with his sinister costume and make-up conveys him as being a much larger threat. However I still believe that Tim Curry's Pennywise was terrific but much less scarier I believe this may be due to Tim Curry's acting as he plays the role of Pennywise in a more comedic way through the dialogue he says but he can still put on a creepy role when he needs to especially when he stalks all the members of the loser gang one at a time. This conforms with Levi-Strauss's 1975 Binary opposite theory as we are seeing to completely different versions of the same character with one being fun and comedic with the other being violent and murderous.
Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise smiling
Looking at Bill's Pennywise I can see that he conforms with Richard Dyer's 1979 star theory as many people now associate him as the true Pennywise because of the lengths he went to portray the character in his own unique way while still being faithful to the original which can be seen as Bill created Pennywise's smile by doing the same smile that he used to do when he chased his brother around the house when they were children. This constructs Pennywise in a way that stands out compared to other horror movie villains as it shows the audience a slight glimmer of the real actor behind the clown which intern makes Pennywise seem more real to us, this also makes the audience associate Bill with Pennywise as being the best Pennywise in a way similar to how people discuss who they believe is the best James Bond (he's been played by 7 different actors). Also, we know that Bill Skarsgård is reprising the role of Pennywise in the sequel to IT (2017) which will make more people associate him the with role of Pennywise as he would of played him in a total of two movie whereas Tim Curry has only played the role in the miniseries. Also looking at Richard Dyer's theory he states that stars are conveyed in 3 possible ways the stars as a construction which means the star is not real and is a construction created by the real person, the star as a commodity which means stars are created to sell merchandise such as t-shirts and the star as an ideology which means that the star will represent a certain social group and fans of that star will then mimic the way they act and share similar beliefs to them. Looking at Pennywise I can see that he is a star construction as he is not Bill Skarsgård he is Pennywise a psychopathic clown who was constructed to be like that by Bill who is the real person behind the star which can be seen as unlike the star Bill portrays he is not a sinister killer.
Bill Skarsgård's (Left) and Tim Curry's (Right) versions of the Take it scene
After analysing the film I'm believe that the films use of sound will be very useful to my groups trailer especially using music to build up to an ambient silence to put the audience into a false sense of security only to then have a jump scare which will catch them off guard.
In the horror genre sound is a key convention in the horror genre as it can be used to express the suspense and tension in a scene. Sound is also used to scare the audience either through the use of a sting (a loud high pitched sound/piece of music) or through the lack of sound such as an ambient silence which confuses the audience as they wonder what is going to happen next.
Sting
A sting like a said previously is a loud high pitched sound or loud piece of music, it is normally created with the use of string instruments such as a violin as they can reach very high pitched notes that can create an ominous atmosphere which further creates tensions as it scares the audience. On the other hand a music sting doesn't always have to be a piece of music it could also be a diegetic sound from within the film which can be useful as they allow the film to show the characters reactions to the sting as well. These types of stings can vary in most cases they are a loud scream usually a woman's as they are stereotypically shown as the victims in the horror genre. They usually occur when a character is being a killed and the sting acts their last words which alerts the other characters in the film so that they know something is amidst. In contrast, the sting may also come from the antagonist of the film when they try to scare the protagonists catching them off guard. This is also normally seen if the antagonist is a woman most likely because stereotypically women can reach higher pitches than men so a woman would find it easier to replicate the sound of a sting. this scares the audience as stings act in the same way as jump scares coming from out of nowhere usually after an ambient silence which will catch the audience of guard, these can also occur after a false scare as the audience would not be expecting another jump scare immediately after a scare.
Character themes
Arguably the most iconic things about a horror movie villain, excluding their appearance, the song that plays when they are on screen hunting down their victims. A good character theme is important for any character in a film as audiences should be immediately able to recognize who is about to appear by the song that is playing which then builds hype which builds up until we see them appear on screen. Character themes are not only limited to the horror genre even appearing in other forms of media such as video games. Arguably the most well known character theme in film history is the Imperial March which belongs to the tyrannical sith lord Darth Vader first appearing from the critically acclaimed Empire Strikes Back (1980).
Even in the first few seconds you can straight away tell whos theme this is even if you haven't seen a star wars film as it has been referenced countless times in the media. The theme starts of quiet but quickly gets louder as the iconic them begins to play. Below I have created a list of key parts within the song:
0:00 - 0:09: The initial build up the same notes are repeated, which starts to build up suspense and tension especially with the use of percussion instruments (cymbals) just before the notes repeat which may symbolize something approaching getting nearer and nearer as they sound very similar to footsteps.
0:10 - 0:28: The main motif starts this is the part that is always associated with Vader with this motif being played most times when he appears on screen. It can easily be recognized by the many brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones that appear in this section as the noises that they make overpowers the rest of the instruments being played as brass instruments can produce a very loud sound this will also make the audience feel weak and insecure as they feel like the other instruments being weak and powerless.
0:40 - 0:46: The motif reaches its pinnacle more instruments are used to make the theme sound more intense and intimidating the theme immediately becomes quiet afterwards. At this moment the brass instruments are overpowered by a multitude of other instruments yet they can still be heard which makes the song sound that much more louder making the audience feel weak as they bask in the songs glory.
0:47 - 1:48: The theme becomes quiet with very few instruments being used as if it was the calm before the storm. However, we slowly start to hear more instruments begin playing the main motif with the theme slowly getting louder and louder until it is back to what it was before it went quiet the them then repeats one more time. This shows that even when all the over instruments become quiet the main motif still continues to play emphasizing how powerful the motif is.
As I mentioned earlier character themes appear in almost every form of media and one of those that I previously mentioned was video games. Much like films these themes are also meant to be recognizable so that fans of certain characters and can get hyped for their appearance. However, unlike in films most villain themes are only heard by the player when they are fighting them in a boss fight so they usually made to set the atmosphere of a long, thrilling battle. The theme that I going to analyse is One Winged Angel the theme song of Sephiroth the final boss of Final Fantasy VII (1997).
The version that i'm analysing is from the game Kingdom Hearts (2002) as the it is an updated version of the original making it sound more powerful when listening to.
0:00 - 0:18: The initial build up you can immediately hear the beat created by the cymbals and the eerie piano which was used to strike as much fear into the player as possible by making Sephiroth sound more intimidating.
0:19 - 0:32: The main chorus kicks in with the most noticeable thing being the ominous chanting which is a actually in Latin and translates to 'Burning inside with violent anger, Burning inside with violent anger, Sephiroth Sephiroth!' This has been done to further scare the player as they will most likely be unable to understand what they are saying except for when they chant Sephiroth's name which creates a fear of the unknown effect.
0:50 - 1:05: The second part of the chorus occurs with different chanting which is still in Latin and translates to 'Fate monstrous and empty, Fate monstrous and empty' and by reading the lyrics in English you can see how sinister they have tried to make the song as this chorus can also be interpreted as saying that there is no hope making Sephiroth appear to be an almighty force
1:22 - 1:48: The final part of the chorus and like before the chanting is different but before I talk about that the first thing that I notice is that the instruments change as before the chanting begins you can hear a loud drum beat which continues to get louder a violin is also used in unison with the drums to make mini stings which I believe has been used to replicate a heart beating very fast which can occur when a person is terrified which intern will make the player become scared. Now looking at the lyrics they translate to 'Come, come, O come, Do not let me die Come, come, O come, Do not let me die' now this could be interpreted in many ways the come, O come part could be Sephiroth challenging the player to attack perhaps trying to intimidate them and the do not let me die may be Sephiroth mocking the player as he is a very difficult boss in the game so a player would always be telling themselves not to die.
But I've been digressing from my original point how is sound used in a horror film? So I will now look at the theme of an iconic horror movie villain. The villain whos theme i'll be analysing is none other than Jason Voorhees the iconic killer from the Friday the 13th film series i'm using his theme as I believe that it truly captures the fear and tension that a horror villains theme should have.
This theme is used in many of the older films in the series however certain parts of his modern theme may homage the original theme (similar instruments) this plays when Jason is attacking his victims.
0:00 - 0:17: Right at the start of the theme we here a sudden music sting created with a violin which plays throughout the song this can also scare the audience as it starts so suddenly they would never see it coming. Listening to violin it sounds disoriented and erratic which may be symbolism for how Jason kills as he is unpredictable killing whoever he wishes whenever he wishes with no visible pattern or order.
0:18 - 0:20: We here Jason say his signature 'Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma' chant while an eerie sound can be heard in the background at this time there are no other instruments playing which makes the theme much more unsettling to listen to
0:21 - 0:25: The violin is played making sharp sounds in quick concession this may be reference to one of the more common methods that Jason kills his victims as he uses his machete to stab them quickly and repeatedly
0:37 - 0:40: A piano is used to create a sound that starts off slow and low pitched but quickly becomes high pitched which is repeated three times I believe this has been used to create the effect of insanity as the repeating sound may make the audience feel like they are in an never ending nightmare and they are slowly using their minds.
0:53 - 2:27: Personally I think that this is the most interesting part of the theme as in this large section the music becomes much more calm and quieter despite the same instruments still being used almost making the theme unusually soothing. However it still manages to keep the tension high as eerie sounds can be heard throughout this section which when combined with the faint sounds if the instruments creates a very ominous atmosphere. Furthermore Jason's chant can be heard multiple times in this section (0:53 - 0:57 and 1:43 - 1:45) this creates the idea that we are place in the characters shoes and are hiding from Jason and whenever we think we are safe only to hear him voiding us of all hope we had to survive.
2:28 - 2:34: We hear a trumpet in the background which slowly gets louder but then stops this could of been done to build up the rest of the song which helps creates suspense for the rest of the song. The rest of the song repeats themes that I have already discussed essentially going back to what it sounded like before the song became quieter.
Silence
The final type of sound that i'll be analysing is the lack of sound otherwise known as silence. In most cases silence in a horror film is used to build up fear and suspense which usually leads to a jump scare. This were silence flourishes as it makes jump scares much more effective as it goes from a dead silence which makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next to a sudden loud noise which will shock the audience as it occurs in an instant. This makes it a very effective tool to use when scaring the audience.
