Artistic License Trailer

Storyboard

Thriller Film Trailer Analysis

Outlaw (2007) is a film written and directed by Nick Love. It involves stars such as Sean Bean and Danny Dyer. This trailer gets the audience gripped straight from the start by the frequent use of quick cut transactions. The dialogue is in a London accent as the camera pans over from a birds eye view of London. This immediately icdicates to the audience that the film will strongly involve London. Quick cuts of violent scenes are used the the voiceover of a news reader explaining the headlines of 'yob culture'. This contrasts with horror and violence that the audience can see. Every extreme long shot/birdseye view of London has text in front of it saying 'OUT OF ORDER'. By putting this text over London stereotypes the city  and portrays london as a dangerous place and an 'out of order' culture. Then the screen goes to black with the bold test: 'Who's goin to fight back?'. Then each point that the dark litten man states, a gun is cocked. The sound of the gun is then connected with the man giving the audience an insight to the person they are looking at. Mid-way through the gun cockin and the sharp piercing non-diagetic sound, more text is stamped onto the screen, telling the audience what other films the director has been assosiated with. The camera then goes back to the man and is still continuously zooming in to his face. When the camera stops zooming, the audience are left with a close up of just his face. The man gives an extremely slight smile and the shot is quickly moved on to more quick cutting violent scenes. The music becomes more structured when the orders are being given, making it seem there is a more authoritive figure in the depths of London. Then the rest of dialogue gives the audience a glimmer of what they can expect within the film without giving too much information away about the characters of the outcome of the film. The outside shots of the violence uses lots of natural light but is made darker to emphasize the graphic scenes of blood and and wounded teens. Quite obviously the film is directed at a male audience, as well as the gun shots and blood the mis-en-scene also adds to the male target audience. Regular shots you can see cars, explosions and weapons. The trailer finishes with the actors names stamp onto the screen with the same font that is used for the title.




From Paris With Love is a film made in 2010, directed by Pierre Morel. One of the main attractions of the film is that it stars the Hollywood legend, John Travolta. The trailer begins with logos and brand names of the makers and producers. Each name and brand is stabbed onto the screen like a gun shot. Then the director’s name is revealed at the beginning of the clip. This is unusual as most trailers add the name of the director towards the end to establish status. It also states other films this actor has made, giving an insight to what audiences can expect. Quick jump cuts of Jonathon Rhys Meyers gives his character status straight away, making him known to the audience. Then the camera cuts to a longer shot of John Travolta (Wax). This instantly makes Meyers look like an apprentice of Wax, this is due to Travolta’s prior acting experience in thriller blockbusters such as Pulp Fiction and Face Off. All the next quick cut shots are of Travolta shooting guns, crashing cars, kissing girls and exploding buildings. This automatically relates to a male target audience, it stereotypes everything you would expect to see in a male oriented action/thriller film in 10 seconds. The distorted rock guitar and heavy drum beats reflect well to the images and explosions the audience are viewing, then the music stops and it just turns to dialogue with ‘Wax’ saying ‘Terrorists’. This gives a deeper understanding of why there are all these explosions and crashes. Most other dialogue is Travolta giving ‘arrogant’ and cheesy comments, giving an understanding of what type of character he plays. All his dialogue contrasts with what is actually happening on the screen. A good example is him talking to his gun saying: “…till death do us part”. As all the action gets more and more extreme, the actor’s names are then said by voiceover. Then it all the music, crashes, gun shots and explosions stop and the audiences are left with the title of the film and voiceover saying it. This creates a great cliff hanger ending and creates a good enticing effect on the audience. Most conventions of thriller films were used but especially dark lighting whenever indoors, creating a sense of curiosity. Overall I believe it is a perfect trailer for this film and was well promoted by this trailer.

Questionnaire

1.       On average, how often do you watch a thriller film (either at home or at the cinema)?

Once a fortnight or less
Once a month
Every 3 months
Every 6 months
Once a year
Never

2.       What is your favourite ‘sub-genre’ of Thriller films?

Disaster Thriller
Psychological Thriller
Crime Thriller
Techno Thriller

3.       Which age range do you fit in to?

15-18
19-24
25-30
31 +

My Target Audience & Release Date

In terms of Physchographics, my film will be targeted at 'Mainstreamers'. This tends to be the largest group of people, giving me the best chance of satisfying a larger audience. Deborah Sheppards diagram of female and male interest in genre shows that my chosen genre (Thriller), will need to be targeted at a male audience. However, the crime aspect of my thriller film could appeal to a small female audience. My Questionnaire has helped to further my knowledge of how to target my film to the target audience.

To get the best results for my film in terms of sucess, I will release my film during the summer. A lot of sucessful thriller films have been released during this period and have become memorable titles. Films such as The Silence of the Lambs, The Dark Knight and Inception. All of which in the top 10 Thriller films of all time (IMDb). Releasing the film in this period also always a wider range of audiences to be available to watch it in cinemas, due to school holidays etc. However, if the weather is nice, people may prefer to be outside rather than being in a cinema. However, this is a risk I would be willing to take because of all the other successful films realeased then.

Codes and Conventions of Thriller Films

Most Thriller films made follow these codes and conventions:

• Low key lighting and shaddows - Shaddows are closely related with low key lighting. They are used to represent the inner darkness within beings, and can also add to tension and eeriness.
• Obstuctive editing (Black and white editing, montage editing) - Quick shots and obstructive editing are used frequently in Thriller films to accentuate the feelings of suspense and tension (often used in the more 'thrilling' scenes of the film).
• Multiple different camera angles
• Sharp, tense music
• Disorientation of time and space

The obvious codes and conventions used in thriller films are to do with the use of sound and editing. Quick cuts and quick transactions take a regular role in most thriller and are accompanied by fast paced music. Then bringing darker lighting into the equation creates a sense of curiosity and suspense for the audience. There are different elements of thriller films that audiences will expect to visually see. Such things could be the use of shadows, staircases and mirrors. However, it is not the same for all thriller films, 'Phonebooth' doesn't use dark lighting, mirrors or staircases. The director (Joel Schumacher), uses just the voice of the terrorist to create the suspense. The fact that the audience don't see the killer till right at the end would make the audience feel on edge and unerved. This proves that not all films in a certain genre need to follow all the codes and conventions, and can be made without other elements that give a similar effect. However, in the production of my trailer I will try to follow as many of the codes and conventions as possible, I believe this will create the best outcome for my trailer.

Film Poster

Film Poster First Draft

Final Film Poster