Study the posters here. What are the key features of film posters – the shared codes and conventions?
Identify the genre for each film. What iconography has been used?
Create a power point of your analysis which should include the key terms provided.
Learning objective: To consider GCSE exam questions on Film Trailers and Film Posters. Key terms: Promises of pleasure - This is what the trailer tells the audience they will get out of the film. Genre specific Lexis - This is when the trailer includes words and phrases the audience would associate with a particular genre.
Section A Film Trailers For your mock exam, you will need to answer two questions on film trailers. You will NOT have to analyse a trailer. However, you WILL need to explain
how film trailers are constructed to appeal to audiences
and
why film trailers are such an
important part of film promotion
So, How ARE film trailers constructed to appeal to audiences? The trailer for a film must encourage us to want to see the film. The trailer holds our attention because the images change really quickly through the editing and we have to concentrate all the way through in case we miss something. Added to this, a trailer uses sound to get its message across. Music, sound effects, speech from the film and the voice-over all join together to create an exciting impression. The combination of sound and moving images is a very effective way of attracting us to see a film.
We usually see a trailer just before we are about to see a film, although sometimes a short version of them appears in the advert breaks on television. Whether in the cinema, or on television, the distributors think carefully about who will be watching at a certain time of day/night and try to show a trailer which will be interesting to this type of audience.
The main codes and conventions of film trailers are:
The name of the film. Usually features prominently in the trailer. If the film is new then the title may give a clue to the film's genre. If it is a sequel, the audience may be aware of the film's genre (Like Scream 2 for example) The use of graphics to reinforce the name of the film and its stars. The font style may help to establish the film's genre. Below, the name of the film;Thor, is written with a bold font and is surrounded by dark, stormy skies. These have connotations of action and power associated with the word.
The main characters. These are often introduced using technical codes for example close ups, to establish them in the minds of the audience. Certain characters may be associated with a genre causing audiences will have expectations of the film. Knowing that the film will contain well known actors gives the audience the impression that the film will be of similar quality to the films the actors have previously appeared in.
A star can be a key selling point of the film.
A tagline. May give clues to the genre or the narrative.
Audio codes. These may include a theme tune or soundtrack which may be recognisable to an audience. For example, the same theme tune was used in all of the Raiders of the Lost Ark films.
There may also be sound effects which place the film in a particular genre, gun shots and explosions in an action film. Atmospheric music may be used to create a mood and suggest the film's genre.
The use of a voice over. The purpose of this is to establish the continuity between the scenes chosen for the trailer, to establish the narrative and to give promises of pleasure to the audience.
Genre specific Lexis. This helps to tell the audience what to expect from the film.
Editing. The trailer will be constructed and some of the best parts of the film will be selected to attract the audience. The chosen extracts will also establish the narrative strands of the film and may include some of the plot situations. These might be recognisable to an audience who are familiar with the genre.
The stills below are from a film called Dream House. They demonstrate that the film is from the horror/thriller genre. The lighting is low key. The family are represented as vulnerable, enhanced by the Mother of the family wearing white (visual code of clothing). The iconography of knives and close ups of screaming faces are also conventions of the genre. The use of distortion is conventional and is enigmatic for the audience.
Enigma codes. Trailers withhold information from the audience to encourage them to watch the film and find the answers. Sometimes rhetorical questions will be asked by the voice over. For example, 'What if the mystery you were trying to solve was your own?' is a question asked in the trailer on Dream House.
This combined with the narrative clues, increases the enigma effect for the audience.
Additional information. This can include the release date and the age certificate.
Why are film trailers are such an important part of film promotion?
When a new film is made, it has to be advertised like any other new product, to let people know it exists and to encourage them to go to the cinema to see it.
The advertising of a film is known as film promotion or film marketing and the people who are responsible for this are the distribution company, so called because they distribute (give out) the films to the cinemas and distribute the promotional material around the country.
The way in which a film is promoted can have a huge effect on whether or not it is successful.
Films are expensive to make and if the public do not buy tickets at the box office to see the film, a lot of money will be lost.
Films have a limited distribution window, and therefore a limited shelf-life. They may play in cinemas for as long as six months, sometimes only for a week. The marketing has to happen at absolutely the right time to get audiences into cinemas, and keep them coming. The movie studio may begin marketing a movie as long as six to eight months before the release date, especially to create anticipation for an event movie, using teasers (enigmatic posters, short viral videos). Most movie campaigns begin two to three months prior to release. A marketing campaign may build for as long as it takes to make a film (and keep changing, once it becomes clear how different audience segments are responding to the message), but it is over once the movie has been released.
Films can only be marketed effectively prior to their release. Once they have been shown in cinemas, the cat is out of the bag, and word-of-mouth takes over from the marketing department in persuading audiences to go and see a particular movie. Certain movies screen at festivals for select audiences before they go on general release. It is not uncommon for a movie to be recut between a poor festival reaction and the actual release date, with plenty of attendant publicity.
Task 1: View the trailer for Touching the Void and answer the following questions..
At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?
Why are we told who is starring in the film? How is this information given to
us?
What type of action from the film do we see?
What clues do the music give us as to what type of film the trailer is
advertising?
What can you say about the voice of the person delivering the voice-over?
Why do you think this voice was chosen? What effect does it have?
How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film?
Why is this? Does the speed alter through the trailer or stay the same?
What information are we given in the very last frame of the trailer?
Which is more effective in making you want to see the film, the poster or the
trailer? Why is this?
Where would you expect to see this trailer and give your reasons:
a) before what films at the cinema
b) before what television programmes
How is the title used as a selling point, both in terms of the actual title itself
and its position within the trailer?
What elements of the trailer enable you to immediately recognise the genre
of the film? Why is it important from the distributor’s point of view that the
trailer highlights the genre of the film?
At the beginning of each trailer we are used to seeing the logo(s) for the
company that is distributing the film. Can you remember the distributor’s name
for Touching the Void? And what are their logos?
The director and/or producer of a film may also play an important role in
attracting an audience to see a film. Comment on the way in which the
director has been marketed in this trailer. Find out what other films the director
has made. How does the director’s previous films raise expectations for
Touching the Void?
Trailers - sometimes -incorporate recommendations from journalists in the
form of quotes – in much the same way that posters do. What do the
comments say, who has made them and what does this tell you about the
target audience for the film?
Trailers often incorporate a voice-over and this is important in setting the
tone for the film. Listen to the voice-over for the trailer for Touching the Void.
What information is given by the voice-over? How many voices do we hear?
Write a set of guidelines for a trailer, assuming the person you are
instructing has no knowledge of what a trailer actually is.
