Film Trailer Analysing

After looking at and anaylsing some TV adverts and discussing the ways in which makes the advert successful in aspects like cinematography and mise-en scene and the sound and pacing and the overall way its been edited, i decided to look at other types of video which is more about the way its edited and these types of video are film trailers.

There are many types of film trailers, like teaser trailers and large trailers which go up to a couple of minutes and these are published on web, TV, cinemas etc and within trailers its more about the way its edited and timing, along with choosing the right dialogue, right soundtrack and using the best clips in the film and emphasising how good the film is by doing it through the editing of the trailer.

IMPORTANT ASPECTS WITHIN FILM TRAILERS:

Besides the editing side of creating a film trailer, when making them these should be taken into consideration and be applied when a company is making a film trailer, as they wnat to grab the audience in and make people want to watch the movie, and that is the most important thing when advertising a film trailer which is coming out in the near future. Here below are a couple of important parts within a trailer that need to be there besides the well edited and dialogue and soundtrack aspects of creating a trailer.

- Trying to tell a story

It's important that you show the audience what the film is about and what type of genre and overall narrative this film has, so you've got to make sure you give the right feeling to the trailer and it matches how the film is like, with exceptions of maybe exaggerating some action scenes for example.

Telling a story within the trailer is important as you want the audience to be drawn in and want to know more and make them go and watch the film so using elements from the story which are important in that films narrative and applying it in the trailer, will help people either decide they want to watch the movie or not, because giving little information about the story, will lead to no one taking a risk with watching the film because they don't no anything about what the film actually is, so narrative in the trailer is important, even if its not through the use of dialogue, visuals usually do all the talking when it comes to portraying a story, but dialogue pieces the puzzle to together with that aspect applied.

- Build up the trailer

When i mean build up the trailer i mean give a sense of a build from beginning too end within the trailer. For example start with the intro of the film and what film it is then continue to do so by using more and more important parts of the film, as if it gets deeper into the story and as if its slightly unfolding so you get more of a feel for the film and the narrative. 

Let's take an action film for example, you could start with the story placed within it and having more about the talking side of things telling the viewer and hinting at the story and then use epic action scenes and build a sense of epicness, and suspense to make the viewer excited and awe struck and then end it suddenly with a big bang which will really make people want to watch the film.

- End of a cliffhanger

Finally a very important aspect of film trailers is they need to end on a cliffhanger, this is very important and with the previous aspect which was building up the trailer is important so ending the trailer on a cliffhanger will create enigma and place questions in their minds about what happens next and it will make them want to watch the film and that's important, so ending on a cliffhanger will help make the film look more epic with a great ending for the trailer and it will convince more people to watch it so they can see what happens next.

All of these aspects are important and just as important than the editing, sound and transitions and pacing and timing of a film trailer, however all of these aspects are very important and used well together will make the film trailer look amazing and whole. Editing keeps people interested with fast cuts, making sure it never gets boring or slow, sound helps to give information about characters, plot etc and the soundtrack helps to enhance the flow and atmosphere of a situation of parts of scenes from a trailer. Transitions can be used to great affect and make certain shots even more impactful going and out of shots.Pacing and timing are important and can give the type of vibe or atmosphere of what the film is going to be like and also works well with the right type of music and can enhance the feeling of the trailer.

Let's take a look at a few examples of trailers and anaylse the key aspects.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 

Link to Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPVWy1tFXuc

Above is one of the trailers i decided to look into and analyse as its a big film that's been talked about recently and has only came out in December last year (a month ago).

Instead of rambling on about the every single detail about the trailer since its a 2 minute trailer, I'm going to talk about certain elements from the trailer that stood out and are important, and help to enhance the viewing experience of this trailer from the audience.

• 79 Edits, started slow, got fast, build up suspense and a fast paced atmosphere making the trailer look more involving, action packed and heart racing

• Transitions we mainly cuts and fades, especially at the beginning, there was fades a lot with small clips, giving the sense of mystery and a dream like atmosphere as well as creating enigma, which is a good thing as it allows people to be more interested in the rest of the trailer and more likely to check the film out.

• Tracking shots used,to follow characters, feel like being watch by evil, gives a creepy and eerie feel to the start of the trailer, also use of pans help to add to this type of creepy atmosphere (0:04- 0:18)

• A selection of shot types, a lot of wide long shots to help show environment and mid shots, high angled shots used at (1:12) makes character look vulnerable and like he's being watched.

• Dialogue helps to give clues of narrative, making it more of an interesting and engaging trailer with character talking about certain things.

• Use of creepy mysterious voice at (1:57) creates a tense atmosphere, and we can tell the voice is threatening and might be antagonist, wander who the voice is, so it then creates enigma towards audience.

• At (2:13) fire comes out and bursts out creating a cliffhanger transition ending, creates enigma, we wonder how the male protagonist is and if he isn't hurt, and wonder also what happens next how will the antagonist be defeated?

Identity Thief Trailer Official 

Link to trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcvIpsf-ENY

My second film trailer that i'm analsying is Identity Thief, and this film came out spring last year and is a pretty good film as I've seen it and its a comedy and is about a woman who steals a mans identity and takes advantage of his credit cards and leaves him to find her and confront her, which leads to some very funny events in the film. This trailer does help to convey the humor and what type of film it and does it in a great way with good well timed editing with the music and and combined makes the trailer look great and makes you want to watch the film, as its very funny and some funny clips are shown in the trailer, so people can get a taste of what the film's like in general and the type of humor is in it.

• There are 112 edits within a 2 minute and 20 second trailer, starts off fast with the beat of the song with the universal ident, gives a feel for the pace throughout of the trailer and is quite consistent throughout.

• Uses tilt transitions occasionally at (0:38) for example to give a more dynamic and other way to use transitions without it being too messy or cheesy, and throughout is done with mainly straight cuts.

• Pace of trailer increases later on to build up the trailer and make the clips more exciting and dramatic and more effective and impacting and making it more interesting and engaging with the audience.

• Use of soundtrack at (0:50) creates a different atmosphere, which is more humorous and the way its edited makes it funny that she is the one who stole his identity and gives up an idea that this film is going to be very funny.

• The use of funny scenes from film in trailer from (0:50-1:03) shows the the funny woman who stole the guys identity and what type of personality she has and we can tell she is amusing and also makes her look stupid but very like able.

• Use of close up of eyes builds suspense at (1:35-1:37) and makes us think how is the woman going to get out of this situation, as she crashed both their cars and leads the guy asking for her licence and finds her and calls her out, then the punch right after creates a laughable action and the way she acts, hinting that the film will have a lot of these moments as it shows more of her beating him up to escape him.

• Trailer again uses a variety of different shot types, usually mid shots of characters so we can kind of she their reactions and what they are talking about and to whom etc. Occasional close ups to indicate more about details like the declined card when Sandy tries to fill up on his car and and pays the money using his card.

• Fast shots during the end make it a lot more engaging and adds humor to the clips of the trailer but also gives type of action film at the same time, which would draw more people in to this film.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier 

Link to trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82RKQPgeYRs

My third and final trailer that i'm looking into and analysing is a film coming soon in 2014 which is Captain America.

• In this trailer there are about 111 edits throughout within the space of 2 minutes and 26 seconds which would be 146 seconds, which doesn't seem like a lot of edits when you compare it with the time frame but when you actually watch it is a very fast paced trailer in certain points.

• The transitions in between shots are either cuts or black fade outs from shot to shot, and are done to sync and time well with the soundtrack but also to create a type of journey from the fades as if the story is progressing and its building memories or something, or looking back on sad times or troubling situations.

• First shot have a plane zoom past, to grab our attention and set the scene.

• Banter at the beginning with the woman giving dating advice to Captain Americas starts it off with a bit of humor and makes in more informal with banter they have and makes Captain America seem like a average bloke but with super powers.

• Dialogue used to help unfold story and understand slightly what's going on and what events lie up ahead for Captain America.

• Use of action scenes and destruction for example at (1:28) (1:36-1:50  defines the film this way as a great action packed genred film. Gives an insight to the type of action packed content is going to be in the film.

• Fast paced shots during action scenes build the film up, leading for the cliffhanger to create a more dramatic and impacting trailer which will make people want to watch the film.

• Use to pretty generic action, dramatic music but works well and times well with the video content of the trailer looking more professional and you can tell its going to be a very popular film, like all Marvel films are.
• Mixture of shot types a lot of mid close ups, to see reactions of characters which help define certain situations their in at the time of those clips, a lot of wide shots to show city, bigger picture of environment and armed forces areas, mind blowing and expansive.

• Use of ending with title of film then goes back to a clip which has somewhat action in and ends on a cliff hanger and of an unexpected clip after name of film makes your heart race even more and exciting of an ending and also creates enigma to the ending of the trailer.