In this part of my blog I will evaluate four film trailers and analyse each one. I will use the trailers from; Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Twilight Saga: New Moon, Superbad and The Hangover.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a 2008 romantic comedy starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell and Russel Brand. From the brief plot we get from the trailer we can see that its the story of a woman, Sarah Marshall, leaving her musically talented boyfriend Peter. We see the "comeback" of Peter trying to get his life back by sleeping with women and visiting Hawaii intertwined with pop ups on the trailer stating who made the film, who is starring and really just things to excite the audience which is of course the main aim of a trailer. There are cameo appearances in the film from Mia Kunis and Jonah Hill and they are shown in the trailer. The trailer its self keeps to the codes and conventions of a trailer by highlighting the fact that because it's a romantic comedy genre'd film, the trailer must adhere to this and be the same so in all the clips we see, it's either about love, humour or at times a bit of both. As this is the official trailer for the film, it goes on for a reasonable amount of time: 2minutes and 41 seconds and like a good trailer should, entices the audience but does not give too much away.
Over the top of the trailer we hear four songs, all part of the films soundtrack which each give the audience and idea of what will happen at certain parts of the film. For exmaple, "All by myself" plays in the background when Sarah breaks up with Peter but in reality, that is played at a different part of the film, however as a trailer, it still incorporates the idea of an active audience.
Twilight Saga: New Moon
New moon is the second film and book in the Twilight series. The film hosts stars such as Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner and has gone on to become hugely succesful. I feel part of this may be due to the way the film is marketed in terms of the trailers released so i have chosen one to analyse.
The trailer starts off with a sound over telling the audience of the laws of vampires and how powerful the royalties are. We then see Edward break up with his girlfriend Bella and the trailers gives us an idea that the film is about her getting back to him and how she must save his life by risking her own. In the trailer we see many different cliff hangers, the biggest being weather or not the main character dies. We are told that "Bella" knows too much about vampires and because of this she has put the family in danger, resulting in a fight scene at the end.
Unlike many other trailers, this one does not feature "pop ups" like the others detailing characters and release dates. These only come right at the very end and i can only think this is because it is the second film in the series so the audience is expected to know the answers already.
Superbad
Superbad is a film released in August of 2007 and stars a stable of big actors. Before the production of this film, 4 main actors were tied down to contracts from the production company Columbia Pictures and have been used in many films together before and after including Knocked Up and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. These actors include Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, and Bill Hader.
In regards to the trailer its self, we have a common string of work. By this I mean we have a scene or two from the movie, albeit some of the words have been changed from what is in the actaul film, and then we have a pop up of the producer or the films name or the date of release: Classic film trailer approach.
Over the top of the trailer we hear two songs; One called Too hot to stop by The Bar Kays and the other called Panama by Van Halen. We hear various clips from the film detailing what is going to happen. This includes the character called Fogul aka Mc'Lovin' buying alochol under age with a fake ID and getting mugged whilst in the shop. Two police detectives appear and try to sort the situation outbut prove to be no help what so ever so instead, they take Mc'Lovin' to a bar and hang out with him. Mean while Seth and Evan are trying to become "the mistake" of the night before at parties with girls, and trying to lose their virginities before they go to college which gives us a non too detailed outline of what the film is about.
The Hangover
This is a 2009 film made in the USA and more specifically Las Vegas. It's the story of a Groom and his three best men intending to visit Vegas for one night that they will never forget, unfortunately for them, they never remembered it instead. It stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis amongst others in this big blockbuster film.
In reference to the trailer its self, it durates 2 minutes and 25 seconds and goves the brief over view of "A night they will never forget". We see the Groom and his men doing vairous tasks around Vegas untill the Groom goes missing. This trailer tells us that the rest of the movie is about the other three men working together and finding out where the groom is.
Over the top of the trailer we hear a few tracks from the albums soundtrack which has become a big thing when creating trailers as the companies already own rights to the track so they will truy and use it as much as possible.
Another thing i noticed was how the trailer referred back to the old school style of trailer and popped up with the production companies at the start and had various writings come up on the screen in the style of "Welcome to vegas", giving an outline to the trailer without needing a narrator. This was effective as it referenced the actual film its self.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
History of The Film Trailer
The name film trailer came about because these videos were watched after films had finished; trailing the film. They are short videos that contain editied footage of a film which audiences will watch then want to pay to watch the full film. The first time this happened was in 1913 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Trailers consist of a series of selected shots from the film being advertised. Since the purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience to the film, these excerpts are usually drawn from the most exciting, funny, or otherwise noteworthy parts of the film but in abbreviated form and usually without producing spoilers or plot ruiners.
Trailers consist of a series of selected shots from the film being advertised. Since the purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience to the film, these excerpts are usually drawn from the most exciting, funny, or otherwise noteworthy parts of the film but in abbreviated form and usually without producing spoilers or plot ruiners.
2 Short Film Analysis
The Big Shave
The Big Shave (1967) is a short film directed by Martin Scorsese and lasts approximately 6 minutes. The Big Shave is also known as Viet ‘67 due to the illiteral meaning of the film and the subliminal messages to the war between, mainly, the USA and North Vietnam.
Mise en scene
The man in the film, Peter Burnuth, is shown to be standing in a very white and clean bathroom. Connotations of the colour white in media represent clean and pure and even good. He goes over to a cabinet and picks up a razor and starts to shave. This seems normal untill he finishes and then starts again. When watching it I thought he had missed something so was shaving it again but in fact he was shaving his whole face. he repeats this phase a nunber of times with blood almost oozing from his face, hereby giving the film a conotation to the naam war. The repetitive shaving and blood loss is supposed to represent the amount of American soldiers who died in the war or so some critics think.
Camera Angles
We start of with a medium shot of the man, he looks clean and good and we know not of what he is about to do. We then have a lot of close up shots to show the man shaving repeatidly and even some extreme close ups which to me show the man has finished shaving but is going to carry on to represent the way the American government were in regards to the 'Naam war.
Editing
There was not much editing needed as the blood that spilled from the man was all in the actual film. Also, due to it being an old short movie, there wasnt a great deal the director could do, even if it was Scorcese.
Sound
The only sound we hear is a track recorded in 1939 called"I cant get started" by Bunny Berigan.
It accompanies the short film and in a way, sets the mood.
The Black Hole
The black hole is a short film directed by Phil and Olly in 2008. It falls into the short film category due to its length of 2 and a half minutes which is short, even for this type of film. In brief, it is about a man who is granted a girft but takes it for granted which is a reference to the society we live in.
Mise en scene
The film starts with the only character in the film standing next to a photocopier. He is a young white adult, probably around his late 20's. He is becoming quickly frustrated when the photocopier will not print his work and the looks at his watch show he is not enjoying himself. Eventually, when the photcopier gives him his work, it is something completely different: A black hole on a piece of paper. The man sets it aside, takes a swig of his water and places the cup where the black hole is, only to find the cup dissapears into it. This promts him to place the black hole on the vending machine and to his shock, he manages to put his hand through the glass and pull out a chocolate bar. You can see by his facial expressions that his mind is concoting a plan which is a great effect as there is no dialogue in the piece. He uses the black hole to open a locked door and in the room he is enters is the companies safe box. He again uses the black hole to circumvent the security and quickly begins taking money from both the safe and at the smae time, the company. The morale of the story kicks in now when he begins to take more and more and eventually, can't reach any more so he decides to climb through the hole and into the safe, his mistake being he knocks the paper down and is now trapped in the safe.
Editing
At the very start of the film, we see a fade disolve and then the credits apear. It's very effective as the disolve is the same as the black hole on the piece of paper. Apart from that, we just see a lot of changes in the tempo of the cuts. The film goes against the usual conventions of a short film by using fast cuts when the mood is dull and slow cuts when the tempo has increased.
Camera Angles
The first camera angle we see is a pan to the right and when it becoms stationary, is focuses on a medium long shot of the man and the photocopier. Whilst the camera changes, we still stay with medium close ups for most of the film untill the guy eats his chocolate bar. At this point, we get an extreme close up which is the same when he realises he is going to go into the closed door. The shots stay close up the man so we can see his expressions as he becomes greedier and greedier.
Sound
The sounds we hear are mainly ambient. It is that of the photocopier and then of every thing the man does; Opening the door, moving the paper, eating a chocolate, collecting the money and whilst this is all happening the photocopier is still making noises. Apart from that there are only two different sounds. These are, the sound that has been included when the man puts his arm through the black hole, and the sound of him laughing sadisticly to himself.
The Big Shave (1967) is a short film directed by Martin Scorsese and lasts approximately 6 minutes. The Big Shave is also known as Viet ‘67 due to the illiteral meaning of the film and the subliminal messages to the war between, mainly, the USA and North Vietnam.
Mise en scene
The man in the film, Peter Burnuth, is shown to be standing in a very white and clean bathroom. Connotations of the colour white in media represent clean and pure and even good. He goes over to a cabinet and picks up a razor and starts to shave. This seems normal untill he finishes and then starts again. When watching it I thought he had missed something so was shaving it again but in fact he was shaving his whole face. he repeats this phase a nunber of times with blood almost oozing from his face, hereby giving the film a conotation to the naam war. The repetitive shaving and blood loss is supposed to represent the amount of American soldiers who died in the war or so some critics think.
Camera Angles
We start of with a medium shot of the man, he looks clean and good and we know not of what he is about to do. We then have a lot of close up shots to show the man shaving repeatidly and even some extreme close ups which to me show the man has finished shaving but is going to carry on to represent the way the American government were in regards to the 'Naam war.
Editing
There was not much editing needed as the blood that spilled from the man was all in the actual film. Also, due to it being an old short movie, there wasnt a great deal the director could do, even if it was Scorcese.
Sound
The only sound we hear is a track recorded in 1939 called"I cant get started" by Bunny Berigan.
It accompanies the short film and in a way, sets the mood.
The Black Hole
The black hole is a short film directed by Phil and Olly in 2008. It falls into the short film category due to its length of 2 and a half minutes which is short, even for this type of film. In brief, it is about a man who is granted a girft but takes it for granted which is a reference to the society we live in.
Mise en scene
The film starts with the only character in the film standing next to a photocopier. He is a young white adult, probably around his late 20's. He is becoming quickly frustrated when the photocopier will not print his work and the looks at his watch show he is not enjoying himself. Eventually, when the photcopier gives him his work, it is something completely different: A black hole on a piece of paper. The man sets it aside, takes a swig of his water and places the cup where the black hole is, only to find the cup dissapears into it. This promts him to place the black hole on the vending machine and to his shock, he manages to put his hand through the glass and pull out a chocolate bar. You can see by his facial expressions that his mind is concoting a plan which is a great effect as there is no dialogue in the piece. He uses the black hole to open a locked door and in the room he is enters is the companies safe box. He again uses the black hole to circumvent the security and quickly begins taking money from both the safe and at the smae time, the company. The morale of the story kicks in now when he begins to take more and more and eventually, can't reach any more so he decides to climb through the hole and into the safe, his mistake being he knocks the paper down and is now trapped in the safe.
Editing
At the very start of the film, we see a fade disolve and then the credits apear. It's very effective as the disolve is the same as the black hole on the piece of paper. Apart from that, we just see a lot of changes in the tempo of the cuts. The film goes against the usual conventions of a short film by using fast cuts when the mood is dull and slow cuts when the tempo has increased.
Camera Angles
The first camera angle we see is a pan to the right and when it becoms stationary, is focuses on a medium long shot of the man and the photocopier. Whilst the camera changes, we still stay with medium close ups for most of the film untill the guy eats his chocolate bar. At this point, we get an extreme close up which is the same when he realises he is going to go into the closed door. The shots stay close up the man so we can see his expressions as he becomes greedier and greedier.
Sound
The sounds we hear are mainly ambient. It is that of the photocopier and then of every thing the man does; Opening the door, moving the paper, eating a chocolate, collecting the money and whilst this is all happening the photocopier is still making noises. Apart from that there are only two different sounds. These are, the sound that has been included when the man puts his arm through the black hole, and the sound of him laughing sadisticly to himself.
History of The Short Film
Short film or short subject is a technical description originally coined in the Indian Film Industry and even in the North American film industry in the early period of cinema. The description is now used almost interchangeably with short film. Either term is often abbreviated to short (as a noun, e.g., "a short").
Although the North American definition generally refers to films between 20 and 40 minutes, the definition refers to much shorter films in Europe, Latin America and Australasia. In New Zealand, for instance, the description can be used to describe any film that has a duration longer than one minute and shorter than 15 minutes. The North American definition also tends to focus much more on character whereas the European and Australasian forms tend to depend much more on visual drama and plot twists. In this way, the North American form can be understood to be a derivation of the feature film form, usually acting as a platform for aspirant Hollywood directors. Elsewhere, short films tend to work as showcases for cinematographers and commercial directors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_subject
Although the North American definition generally refers to films between 20 and 40 minutes, the definition refers to much shorter films in Europe, Latin America and Australasia. In New Zealand, for instance, the description can be used to describe any film that has a duration longer than one minute and shorter than 15 minutes. The North American definition also tends to focus much more on character whereas the European and Australasian forms tend to depend much more on visual drama and plot twists. In this way, the North American form can be understood to be a derivation of the feature film form, usually acting as a platform for aspirant Hollywood directors. Elsewhere, short films tend to work as showcases for cinematographers and commercial directors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_subject
Friday, 25 September 2009
A Short History of the Music Video
A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium, and later with the launch of VH1. The term "music video" first came into popular usage in the early 1980s. Prior to that time, these works were described by various terms including "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional (promo) clip" or "film clip". In Chinese entertainment, music videos are simply known as MTVs because the network was responsible for bringing music videos to its popularity.
Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including Animation, live action, filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video
Project Analysis
Here are the tasks I must do to keep on track and to stay within the time limit I have, making sure i work both effectively and efficiently.
Task 1: Create A2 Media Blog Address
Task 2: Research Into Existing Products
Task 3: Mind Mapping Of Initial Ideas
Task 4: Audience Research
Task 5: Script
Task 6: Storyboards
Task 7: Role Allocation
Task 8: Final Proposal
Task 9: Casting
Task 10: Filming
Task 11: Editing
Task 12: Create Print Artefacts
Task 13: Audience Feedback
Task 1: Create A2 Media Blog Address
Task 2: Research Into Existing Products
Task 3: Mind Mapping Of Initial Ideas
Task 4: Audience Research
Task 5: Script
Task 6: Storyboards
Task 7: Role Allocation
Task 8: Final Proposal
Task 9: Casting
Task 10: Filming
Task 11: Editing
Task 12: Create Print Artefacts
Task 13: Audience Feedback
A2 Portfollio
This year in Media Stuides, I have been asked to create a porject from the following; Music Video, Short Film, and Documentary. As it would be hard to choose one of these choices right away, I will, on this blog, analyse and research into each of the available projects to find which one would be right for me.
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