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FILM TRAILER ANALYSIS

Angel Has Fallen (2019)

Lighting and colour

  • In the beginning of the trailer, the lighting is high key with the colour being quite grey. This is mostly to do with the weather but also to add to the scene.

    • ​The grey sky shows that the scene is neutral and no proper action is taking place or maybe that action is imminent.

  • ​In the police chase in the middle of the trailer, the lighting is relatively low-key and this is to highlight the tension and suspense in the scene.

Sound (including script)

  • At 0:24, President Trumbell, played by Morgan Freeman, delivers the following dialogue to Mike Banning, played by Gerard Butler: “I am selecting you for Secret Service Director, Congratulations.” Butler replies “I’ll give it my best shot, sir.” – This short sequence of dialogue highlights a key point in the main plot as it introduces the main role of the character Mike Banning. Regarding sound, it is clear and to the point as its main priority is introducing the plot to the audience.

    • Also, the fact that Gerard Butler is still featured in the third film of the franchise (Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen​) reassures the audience to know that the famous actor is still part of the film.

    • For example, in another genre of film, Horror, there is a film franchise called Jaws which is renowned for being the most famous and popular film franchise ever created. In Jaws and Jaws 2, the cast is relatively the same, however when it comes to Jaws 3 and with regards to Angel Has Fallen, the cast slightly changed which meant that audiences were left confused as to why different actors/actresses had been used in place of the original cast which is the complete opposite in Angel Has Fallen.

  • Throughout the trailer, music is utilised in a non-diegetic format to create a suspenseful and tense atmosphere for the viewer. In particular, a mood underscore is used in the beginning and middle of the trailer to establish and support the mood of the scene, which is mostly tense and exhilarating.

  • In the telephone call scene, automated dialog replacement (ADR) is used to distinguish the relationship with the caller and the receiver and also in terms of sound, to make it clearer to the viewer to know what is happening.

Use of camera

  • The first two shots are shot near an open lake and are both establishing shots of which their purpose is to establish the scene and let the viewer know where that particular scene is taking place. It also gives the viewer a sense of the scene’s surroundings and overall atmosphere.

  • When Mike (Gerard Butler) and President Trumbell (Morgan Freeman) are on a small yacht in the open lake, an over-the-shoulder (OTS) shot is used here to highlight the conversation happening. Also, the 180-degree rule is adhered to here to create the illusion of both actors looking at each other in the same direction.

Editing

  • The majority of the trailer is fast paced with fast cuts throughout. There are some parts of the trailer that are a little bit between slow and fast paced where there are breaks in the action.

  • All shots are filmed smoothly and do not appear jarring or appear to feature jump cuts which is quite conventional for this genre of film.

Rogue Warfare (2019)

Lighting and colour

  • Low key lighting is used throughout the trailer to convey drama and to show the audience that there is a tense atmosphere among the characters.

  • A colour choice that is very much prevalent in the trailer is the director's colour choice for the service personnel which is beige. 

    • This is typical of what a real soldier's uniform would look like in an army - this gives a sense of realism and makes the soldiers appear more realistic.​

Sound (including script)

  • In the second shot of the trailer, the audience is introduced to a convoy of vehicles heading somewhere very quickly and you can hear the sound of the vehicles revving their engines.

  • The engine sound heard here is most likely non-diegetic as it would have been difficult to record the sound when on location due to the sheer pace of the film.

  • The engine sound is non-diegetic because it was probably added as a sound effect in post-production as this is a much easier way of adding the sound rather than hooking up microphones to the cars individually, in turn costing more money.

Use of camera

  • The opening shot at 0:06 of the teaser trailer is an establishing shot and it shows what appears to be a city ruined by an outbreak of war. A lot of the buildings in the shot look quite decrepit and derelict.

  • At 0:31, there is a close-up shot of a middle-aged man dressed in grey clothing which is then followed by a medium shot of a war soldier dressed in beige, camouflage clothing and holding a gun.

    • The subsequent shot is another medium shot of the war soldier who appears to have been shot by the nonchalant man in grey which is followed by a short sequence of dialogue "Welcome to the party, mate". ​

    • It then fades to black which is used here to emphasise the action in the scene to the audience.

Editing

  • The trailer is very fast paced with lots of straight cuts used throughout.

    • One editing technique used in the trailer is a sound bridge.​

      • A sound bridge is a sound editing technique that happens when sound carries over a visual transition in a film.

      • This type of transition ​is quite common in continuity editing as it links the mood throughout the trailer.

    • There is a sound bridge used when a man with a black balaclava hold a gun up to a man and shoots him in the head. The audio of the gunshot is heard from the scene over to when it fades to the film company logos.​

  • At 0:31 with the scene of the war soldier and the man in grey clothing, a fade to black is used to highlight the tension of the scene but also to cover the actual gunshot but then this fade quickly dissolves to bring the audience immediately back into the action.​

Skyscraper (2018)

Lighting and colour

  • Lighting is low key all the way through the trailer to show darkness and mystery among the character

  • The colour of the sky in the trailer is very dark as it is set at night where sunlight is not visible

  • The colour of the fire is the typical red and yellow mixed with orange to show the bright, burning look and to make it look scary

  • The colour of the police sirens near the end of the trailer are red and blue which is conventional to the American police car

Sound (including script)

  • When Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) accidentally throws a massive hammer through the glass of the skyscraper he is in, he delivers the dialogue "This is stupid" as he looks out to the rest of the city and considers jumping to save the thing he lost

  • At 0:27, we hear the diegetic sound of a helicopter as it flies through the frame. The sound is diegetic because the sound is coming from the helicopter itself and that is part of the scene

Use of camera

  • At the beginning, there is a wide, establishing shot of the night sky with the skyscraper in the background - this is to establish the location and setting of the scene

  • At 0:15, there is a medium shot of Dwayne Johnson as he pears over the edge of the damaged window of the skyscraper looking down to the ground beneath him and the dark sky

  • At 0:21, there is a high angle shot to show the sheer height of where Johnson is stood and to show the intense nature of what he is about to do - also to portray the vulnerability of Johnson's character

Editing

  • The editing is mostly fast paced in the trailer with a few shots at the beginning being slow paced to ease the viewer into the trailer

  • During the scene in which Johnson is suspended from the skyscraper by only his prosthetic legs, there are several, fast, straight cuts use to show the fast pace of the scene

Dunkirk (2017)

Lighting and colour

  • The lighting is low key with a lot of dark tones and colours - the sky is very dark and grey

  • All of the military personnel are dressed in brown clothing to convey that they are at war

Sound (including script)

  • Right from the start, the non-diegetic music soundtrack that you can hear in the background is very fast paced and sounds like a ticking clock - this is due to there being a countdown to one of the shots where the soldiers are bombed by the enemy forces

    • This fast paced music abruptly comes to a halt when a wide, establishing shot of all the soldiers on the boat are seen waiting and then a few seconds later, they have to fight for their life as they realise they are about to be bombed​.

Use of camera

  • There are several establishing shots in the teaser trailer that show where the action is taking place and it also portrays the raw feel of the location on the beaches of Dunkirk, France

  • All of the shots featured in the teaser trailer are wide, establishing shots so the trailer does not actually reveal much about the character's feelings but the overall feelings of the whole of the scene

Editing

  • The editing is quite slow paced throughout with most shots lasting at least 3 to 4 seconds - however this is contrasted with the pace of the music which is an increasingly fast track that gets faster up until the point of action

  • Use of captions is very prevalent in the trailer and this is to highlight the makers of the film and brief descriptions of what is going on in the scenes

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Lighting and colour

  • The lighting is mostly low key but some parts at the beginning use natural lighting from the outside world such as daylight or the street lights

  • The choice of colour in the trailer is a dull, dark colour such as black, beige or brown - this is to show innocence or dominance

Sound (including script)

  • There is no audible dialogue, apart from voice over, until 1:15 into the trailer - several shots remain in silence, this is to put more focus on the character's actions and emotions / feelings

  • The non-diegetic music is quite slow and very neutral

Use of camera

  • The opening shot is a point of view (POV) shot from the view of a car with the road sign on the top right

    • This type of shot shows the scene from a different perspective which makes the audience feel more immersed in the trailer​

  • In the beginning, there is a close up shot of a young woman who is in a pick up truck vehicle travelling fast along a highway - the close up of the woman is used here to highlight the emotion and vulnerability of the character

Editing

  • The editing is fast paced in the trailer 

    • Lots of straight cuts are used to retain continuity and avoid jump cuts or jarring shots

  • Captions are used to indicate critical comments or credits for the director or executive producer

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Rocket Launch Intro Edit in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018

What was the task?

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I was given a handful of stock footage, music and sound effects to create a short edit with a few techniques added in, for example using opacity to fade two video clips into one and using the colour filter to change the clip to black & white to make the edit feel ancient.

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What did I learn by doing this task?

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Although I have had some experience using Premiere Pro before, I did learn a few things about Premiere Pro that I can use and apply to my teaser trailer.

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Firstly, I learnt how to manipulate and adjust a clip's opacity in order to put two clips on top of each other. In the video above, this is evident where I edited a clip of a USA flag blowing in the wind to be on top of a clip of the Space shuttle taking off into space. This gives the video a sense of patriotism and links it to the country in which the Shuttle take off took place.

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Secondly, I learnt how to change the colour filter of a clip with my choice being to change one of the clips to black & white to give the clip a more old, ancient feel. 

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I also learnt how to add text or captions to the video to add depth and clarity. In the video, I added a caption entitled "On a mission to build, resupply and to do research on the International Space Station" when the voice over in the clip was saying it.

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How can I link this to my teaser trailer?

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With regards to my teaser trailer, I will be able transfer the skills of adding colour filters to enhance the colours of my film in order to make it look sophisticated and more professional.

Edgar Wright style edit in Premiere Pro

We were shown a video on YouTube which features the editing style of Edgar Wright who typically uses fast cuts and other techniques to make his edits more interesting and intriguing. 

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We were then tasked with creating a short video in the editing style of Edgar Wright. We also discussed the ways in which we can apply these techniques to our own teaser trailer.

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We had to use the technique of going from point A to point B but rather than filming every place the character goes, shoot a few scenes to show distance and the character moving fast.

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I think that I will maybe use this sort of editing style in my teaser trailer as I plan to use fast pace editing for my trailer.

INTRODUCTION TO LED LIGHTING

We were shown how to use and setup LED lights and we were also made aware of three-point lighting where you can bounce light onto a person making for a great effect. 

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The photo on the left, Figure 1, shows how the LED light is not highlighted on the person's face as there is no use of the sheet of material evident in this scene to bounce the light.

figure 1

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Figure 2 shows how the lighting on the person's face is drastically improved when using a sheet of material to effectively bounce the light in a different direction. This is a way of manipulating directions of light in order to light your characters in different ways to achieve different situations.

figure 2

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Horror

Cinematography and editing

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  • Camera angles that are unusual, examples of which are very low, very high or canted / dutch

    • These angles are typically used to show dominance, innocence and power relations

  • Extreme close-up (ECU) shots ​on victim's (protagonist) face to show fear

  • Handheld camera shots evokes terror and uncertainty

  • Shallow depth of field (image background and foreground are blurred with only a small area in focus) makes the background of the character blurry to build suspense

  • Slow paced editing will create suspense and unsettle the audience

  • Long takes with sudden jump cuts are used to frighten the viewer

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Lighting and audio

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  • Low key lighting is used to create darkness, shadows and an eerie atmosphere

  • Silence is used to build tension

  • The music / soundtrack is typically very slow and eerie sounding - these are created through classical instruments or a synthesiser

  • Music (often orchestral) normally starts at a low volume and slowly increases as the scene progresses up to the point of action

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Iconography and props

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  • Weapons such as knives and chainsaws are used instead of guns as they don't create as much blood

  • Religious or demonic symbolism such as the crucifix or the bible

  • Black colour - darkness, mystery

  • Red colour - blood, danger

  • White colour - innocence, isolation

  • Masks and dark clothing are used to conceal the identity of the antagonist

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Narrative

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  • Secluded location 

  • Power / phone line is cut (or battery dies)

  • Someone investigates noise

  • Someone runs upstairs instead of going outside

  • Victim inexplicably falls over

  • Vehicle won't start

  • Characters take a short cut, normally into woodland where it is dark and gloomy and usually get lost and cannot find a way out

  • Warning goes unnoticed

the blair witch project (1999)

Sci-Fi

Locations

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  • Space

  • Dystopian future

  • Alternate timelines

  • On a spaceship or a different planet

  • Different universe or dimension

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Themes

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  • Time travel

  • Artificial intelligence (AI)

  • Interstellar travel

  • Bodily transformation

  • Alien invasion

  • Science gone bad

  • End of the world

  • Save mankind

  • Societal and cultural issues

    • Global warming​

    • War

    • Medical ethics

    • Fear of technology

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Characters

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  • Protagonist (hero) - unwillingly thrown into adventure, either arrogant or full of self-doubt

    • They will question if they are the right person for the job

  • Antagonist (villain) - aliens, monsters, androids, killer microbes or disease, cataclysmic natural disaster

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Iconography and props

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  • Plenty of special effects and lavish costumes

  • Helmets, lasers, guns, spaceships

  • Lots of electronic equipment

    • Computers​

  • Technological jargon that seems complicated for us to understand

the martian (2015)

Action

Characters

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  • Main protagonist - always the hero who controls the action

  • The villain (antagonist), who is often a rich millionaire or an ex-military soldier, sometimes hides their identity and usually has a female companion

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Costumes

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  • Characters wear quite expensive clothing or battle clothing

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Narrative

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  • Hero fights against the villian / antagonist trying to stop them

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Editing

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  • Fast-paced

  • Sound effects

  • Computer generated imagery (CGI)

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Music / sound effects

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  • High drum beat / intense 

  • Explosions / gun shots

  • Running

  • Screaming

  • Car engines

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Use of colour and lighting

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  • Scene lighting

    • Daylight

    • Search lights

    • Street lamps

  • Dark colours such as brown and black are used to make characters look suspicious 

  • The main protagonist and heroes often wear white clothing to make them stand out from the others

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Setting

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  • Cities

  • Built-up urban areas

  • Skyscrapers

  • Underground tunnels

  • Flats

  • Warehouses

  • Roads

  • Police stations

  • Cars

  • Casinos

  • The sky

  • Banks

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Cinematography

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  • Close-up shots to show emotion

  • Establishing shots are important to indicate where the action is taking place

  • Tracking shots are common among chase scenes to capture the fast pace of it and to make the viewer feel immersed and part of the action

skyfall (2012)

Comedy

Settings / locations

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  • Teen comedy - high school, small towns

  • Social comedy - homes, bars

  • Places that are bright, full of colour

    • Towns​

    • Cities

    • Well populated areas​

 

Cinematography and sound

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  • Camera is usually placed in a natural position which goes with the character

  • Bird eye view or high shots are used to capture the whole environment of the scenes

  • Medium shots are typically used to encapsulate the characters' facial expressions of a certain situation or an awkward scene

  • Sounds or sound effects are added to create more humour in the scene

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Iconography

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  • Lighting is usually high-key and bright to make it obvious to the audience

  • Bright colours such as blue, green, yellow and red are often used to highlight the vibrancy of the scene

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Narrative

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  • Closure - cliffhangers are not used and closure is more often than not used as a way of meeting the audience' needs and to end the story satisfactorily 

  • Some films use multi-strand narrative which means that multiple narratives are happening at the same time

  • Point-of-view (POV) shots are utilised so the audience can feel the exactly how the character feels 

Step Brothers (2008)

genre questionnaire

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68.8% of people surveyed said that they were aged 16 and as my target audience is 12 years and up and adults, this proves that the people I surveyed are the perfect audience range for my teaser trailer.

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Almost everyone I surveyed said that they like action films so this proves that my choice of genre for my teaser trailer is popular among my target audience. 

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Out of all of the people I asked, the most liked genres were Comedy, Horror and Drama, all having 2 votes. This demonstrates that a lot of people like a variety of genres and not just the genre I have picked for my teaser trailer. This allows me to know what the majority of people like in terms of film genres. Although not many people have stated they would say their favourite film genre is Action, I am still confident that I will be able to create a thoughtful and tense Action teaser trailer.

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The most votes for favourite action film went to Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw, with 2 votes out of 16 equating to 12.5% of the vote, which is the 9th instalment in the Fast and Furious film franchise. 

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50% of people who answered the questionnaire said that they mostly watch films at home with only 25% of people saying they watch films mostly online through online platforms such as Netflix. 18.8% of people stated that they mostly watch films at the cinema which shows that there are still people who favour going to the cinema rather than staying at home to watch films.

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Only 31.3% of people watch action films once a month with 18.8% of people stating that they rarely watch action films which I can infer that these people probably don't like action films that much and prefer other genres to action.

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I asked a question about what entices / persuades people to want to watch a film. The question highlighted the fact that half of people surveyed said they feel a storyline is what entices them to watch a particular film. 25% are swayed by a famous cast with an equal 12.5% of people saying they like to watch a film because of a famous director and 12.5% of people are enticed to watch a film after having seen a good trailer.

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The final question I asked to people was how they find out about the release of new and upcoming films. A staggering 87.5% of people said that they use social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter to find out about new films. This shows that this age group tend to use social media more often than older generations and this is a good way for production companies to receive below the line advertising that is developed by social media users spreading news of the film through word of mouth online.

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