The Narrative Image in Film Trailers

The main purpose of a trailer is to make people want to see the film. How does it go about doing this? John Ellis suggests that a trailer presents a 'narrative image' of the film. Basically giving us an idea. Ellis argues that the narrative image of a film is 'decidedly less than the whole film - it is the promise [of the film] and the film is the performance and realisation of that promise'.

Narrative Pleasures
- the trailer suggests the pleasures the film offers
- it needs to introduce something new, as well as build on our current knowledge
- it needs to use our awareness of genre, certain stars and what they've promised

Features of trailers
1. Avengers
2. the Hobit : Battle of the Five Armies

- What mystery do the trailers suggest (enigma)?
- How do the trailers build on the audiences previous knowledge of the films (familiar aspects)?
- What do they suggest is new?

Soundtrack in Trailers

In order to understand the theory of a film trailer even better, I decided to watch two trailers without the sound to see how much information I could gather from them. Unsurprisingly this meant I received a lot less information about the factors such as the stars and the setting. This shows how necessary it is to credit with text as well as dialogue. I watched 'Big Eyes' by Tim Burton and 'The Spectacular Now' by James Ponsoldt both without sound twice and then with sound once. Here it what I found out from the two viewing without sound. 

Trailer Conventions from Ella Sandison

Conventions of a Typical Film Trailer

Here is a list of typical features in a film trailer;


1. Voiceovers are used to tell the story and give credit information
2. The stars of the film are showcased
3. Key points are sometimes conveyed through titles
4. Conversations between characters often consist of one liners
5. Dramatic camera angles may be chosen to show events or characters
6. Action is interpreted with actor or director credits on screen
7. Music plays an important role in creating atmosphere
8. The film title may not appear until the end
9. The trailer builds to a climax, where it ends
10. Montage (a series of shots from different points in the film, edited together) is often used to highlights the most dramatic, humorous or fast-paced aspects of the film.




All of these work together to attract the audience and to make them want to see more. Making sure the trailer doesn't give away too much is a key component of producing a trailer but also to make sure enough is revealed to intrigue the audience enough in the first place.

Film Trailers : Genre

Genre
In this post I will provide four examples of film trailers with annotations based upon 5 questions which are listed below;
1. How would you describe the genre of the trailers? Do they feature any key elements?
2. What similarities can you see with male and female representation?
3. To what extent are special effects a feature of these trailers?
4. How does the soundtrack help to create a genre?
5. Who is this genre aimed at?

Trailers:
A.  Unbroken
1. Historical and war genre
2. This trailer has a majority of male characters, and the few female characters shown only appear for a few seconds each.
3. Not many special effects are used in this trailer, only when the plane crashes into the sea
4. The soundtrack is slow and saddening, is also used in the film "The Fault in Our Stars', this could create a pre-consumption
5. This trailer could be aimed towards teenagers to mid-twenties and of both sexes

B.   American Sniper
1. Historical and war genre
2. Their are only two women in this film trailer, wife of the sniper and women with the bomb. Both these women play the role of a victim in this film, the both receive some of the negative impacts of men going to war
3. There is hardly any special effects used in the trailer, this helps increase the realism of the situation and entices the audience
4. The heartbeat soundtrack adds tension and realism to the situation and emphasis the stillness of the sniper
5. This trailer could be aimed at teenagers to middle aged people of both sexes

C.   Blackhat
1. Cyber and war genre
2. The female in this trailer is shown as weaker than the male as she is protected by him (2.22). The female can also be portrayed as a double agent, being used by the men in the film to gain extra information.
3. Lots of specials effects are used in this trailer this adds tension and excites the audience
4. the soundtrack in this trailer matches the action, as the action builds so does the volume and the thickness of the soundtrack
5. This trailer could be aimed towards teenagers to early-twenties of both sexes