Poster Analysis - Insidious

 At the top we see ‘from the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw’. This reference is used on the poster to attract audience which is already familiar to those films as it is made by the people who produced well known films.

The title of the film stands out well as the colours used contrast each other well as usage of black background and white text opposites the two colours. This colour choice may imply danger, as its dark. With the word ‘insidious’ means ‘intended to entrap’ which suggest what the movie is about.

The tagline ‘It’s not the house that’s haunted’, is a quote from the film and the teaser trailer. This persuades people to see the film as they want to know what is haunted. Barthes’ theory can be linked to this with the use of enigma codes.

The poster is conventional with the way credits at the bottom are presents, squeezed and undersized so it wouldn’t take much space, containing companies, directors and other cast members and crew. Potentially attracting their fans and widening the target audience of people that could be interested in the film. Above that, three actors’ names are seen; this is placed there to attract their fans which may interest them in watching the film.

The main image includes a creepy looking boy and in the background, an old house. This is a typical convention of horror, large house. People may interpret the young boy being good, which may relate to binary opposition theories as dark scenery may suggest he is not a good boy, Potentially drawing audience’s attention to the poster making them want to watch the film. A subtle hint is given about the film as the boy is the focus, oppositely to the house, setting the scene for the movie location, leaving the audience curious.

Colours in this poster are weakened, resulting in a darker sight. The pyjamas worn are red, suggesting danger towards the boy. Audience is left thinking why he is in pyjamas outside making them curious and wanting to watch the film.

A special effect is used when looking at the boy’s eye, making the viewers thinking something is supernatural about him, as the audience is left with a creepy inheritance making them want to find out why he is like that.

Trailer Analysis - Jumper

Jumper is a 2008 American science fiction action adventure film. It was filmed in 14 different countries to use popular locations such as the Coliseum. The film made a box office of around $220 million and had a budget of $85 million, so it was a quite successful film.  

The mise-en-scene of the film uses realistic locations and costumes. The film appears to be set in real life locations. The costumes for the characters reveal their personalities and social status. This all aids to portray the realism of the film to allow the special effects used and twisting storyline to appear more real life than they actually are. This is an important factor that we must aim to include in the trailer as we want to give the perception of a realistic setting, characters and storyline. The level of realism that we portray will determine how effective the trailer is.

A vast amount of diegetic sound is used throughout the trailer. The main one is dialogue. The use of diegetic sound contributes to the realism of the film, settings and actions. There is also non diegetic sound that is used to add effects and to increase suspense. Examples of this are the special effects used when the actor is transported to the different places. This allows the audience to know that something significant is happening. Also music is used throughout the film to set the pace of action and to also help the audience to detect which location he has been ported to E.g. Egyptian music to tell the audience that he has been ported to Egypt. All of this analysis has helped me to conclude that we will need to incorporate these aspects into the trailer. As the plot of the film is similar to this one and we need to keep the trailer as realistic as possible, then the concepts of diegetic and nondiegetic sound used throughout this trailer will be used.

The editing used is mainly fast and frequent cuts. This creates the image that the film is going to be fast paced and a vast amount of action will be present throughout the film. Fades are also used to show the passing of time and that the cuts shown in the trailer are not consecutive to each other. The cuts are shown in chronological order in reference to the film. This allows the audience to gather a slight idea of the journey throughout the film and the reasons and consequences of events. There are establishing shots used to allow the audience to establish the location or setting of the scene. Close ups of characters faces are also incorporated to show expression and emotions and allows the audience to see how they are feeling and reacting to events. This allows the audience to relate to the actors in more depth. Extreme close ups are used to help show the significance of objects. E.g. when there is an extreme close up of his hand to show the significance of the object he is holding.

Trailer Analysis - Hide and Seek

This trailer starts off with informing the audience about the institution of the film, 20th century fox. This could attract fans of the 20th century fox company. At the start of the trailer, two adults are talking about a girl called Emily. This initiates how Emily may be one of the main characters and this is later proven throughout the trailer. The discussion between the two adults introduces the narrative of the film by hinting the death of a partner, which causes the need to move away.

Throughout the trailer, lighting is dull which sets a strange and evil mood of the film. The first half of the trailer has slow music in the background to set the narrative. A change in tone in the middle of the trailer with a big bang noise and all the frightening and scary behaviours of the girl are shown. Showing that the movie is more than relationships and bonding trouble and actually being a horror.

The narrative is scary due to the associations of innocence and children being made evil, creating a frightening story, even though the title suggests child like behaviour as it’s a child’s game, parts of the trailer are connected to the child being lost as echoing is used to reference this making it scary, and at the end of the trailer the main character says ‘come out come out wherever you are’ which is a phrase from the game but this does not seem innocent due to the narrative we have been introduced to with her strange behaviour.

She is shown with a doll. This doll is a signifier and signified horrors, although a doll is played with by children, this is a creepy one scaring the audience. Also the blood writing on the toilet tiles connotes death and horror. With the knife being taken out of the holder creates an enigma and leaves the viewers wondering who has taken it, the knife also implies death as knifes are associated with killings.

The trailer finishes with fast shots and music building to an explosion. Being the climax of the film, the title of the film is shown so the viewers would remember it, after this she is shown again reflecting her major role in the film, followed by the release date of the film to inform audiences when the film is available to view, being purposely placed at the end so the audience would remember the important information.  

Trailer Analysis - Fast and Furious 6

Fast and Furious 6 was released in 2013 and had a budget of $160 million. It has made a net profit of $628 million which shows just how successful it was. This movie is classed as a thriller although it does have a lot of sub-genres.

The trailer starts straight away of an establishing shot of where the residency where this main actor lives. Using Todorov’s narrative theory the audience start finding things out. The disruption occurs when the Rock comes into the trailer and asks for help. The main actor sees his old colleague in which works for the evil and the audience is left wondering why she turned signed using this binary oppositions and enigma. Followed by an establishing shot of London, in which a flight takes place by seeing the plane, and the iconic image of Tower Bridge and Big Ben which tells the audience where the movie will be set.

Comparing to others, Universal pictures made a very long trailer which include explosions, gun shots, and fancy cars to catch the audience’s attention. The distribution company name only appears 22 seconds into the trailer, after we are shown a little part of the film, making it look very high tech, and professional.

Owen Shaw who plays the villain is shown in the night in this trailer to add danger to this character. Showing the audience the damage he is causing, virtually inserting fear, power and dominance into the viewer’s way of seeing him, making his character fearful and hopeful of the good.

FF6 use a variety of USP in this 3 minutes long video, firstly the introduction of the famous characters. With many having large fan bases which would encourage them to watch the film. Secondly, the use of previous franchise success. This movie is very much based around their previous movies so they are trying to show people how good their other films were and so this film will be as good. In addition, the audience is brought to a massive enigma which Letty is seen alive but died in previous film.

We witness an enigma in this movie which is Letty.  Without speaking, camera angles are used to make the audience wonder how she is like by zooming shots and black and white effects, also with the main actors speaking about her, attention is put on her.

After seeing the hefty, costly end scene in the trailer with the plane crash, which gains the audiences’ attention as cars are flipped about showing the audience how much of an investment and money was put into it we see the film title as the last piece of information so it would stay in the audiences’ minds without them forgetting it.  It is a good way of marketing as the audience is still in amazement of the heroics in the last scene.

Although this trailer is longer than usual, it included a lot of information about the film, making the audience want to watch it, making me think about my own trailer length and content to use. The key aspect that amazed me was how well the USP was spread out across the whole trailer, showing actors at the start, and explosions, chases, and guns throughout the 3 minutes.

Trailer Analysis - Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity was released in 2009, and was considered as hugely successful. It only budgeted an incredible $15 000 to produce which required double and triple checking to check that this figure is correct. It has made a profit of $193 million which just shows how successful they were. This is the trailer for the first movie that they had produced but they have later on produced a number of movies on top of this.

This trailer is very unique as we witness a real life audience viewing the actual movie. This was completely different and new and so the audience would have feel intrigued and drawn in. As soon as the film distribution company; paramount is shown, then the movie actually begins. The camera shot used to view the trailer is a kind of long distance shot co the trailer can be seen but it also reminds the audience that the trailer is actually being filmed in a cinema.

The lighting is consistently dark in this trailer to re-enforce that the trailer is of a horror genre and also reminds the audience that they are in a cinema. Throughout the trailer, during the scary parts, the camera quickly cuts to the audience in the cinema to show their reactions and this will also draw the actual target audience in.

The unique selling point is shown very cunningly yet is there from the start to the end of the trailer. This is the camera type. The camera quality is poor but that is because the producers wanted them to be. Furthermore this was the reason why they didn't have to spend much in the production stage of this movie as they were using cheap cameras in comparison to the ones used by other movies which cost thousands each. This is emphasised in the trailer when the Male Character says "High Def (Definition) Camera On” which shows the camera being used is simple and the audience will really be experiencing the movie as if they are an additional person in the house.

The female character is given most prevalence right at the beginning of the trailer just after the film distribution company "Paramount" goes by and this is done by the man camera looking at her. During this time, it seems as if there are two cameras when there is a shot/reverse/shot used to view the conversation. This also introduces the secondary character who is the man.
The camera movements are never smooth and this helps to build the tension and remind the audience that he is carrying the camera at all times. The camera movements get quicker and quicker as the non-diegetic sound gets introduced. As the sound gets louder, there are more paranormal events which is followed by cuts to the audience getting scared and jumping.

This trailer really tries to sell itself via the audience’s faces to the horror scenes but it also contains the reviews by critics and reviews such as "the scariest movie of all time" will easily sell the movie to the public. Furthermore right at the end, when you think the trailer is over, we suddenly see a man fly into a camera and this may have been added to tell give the audience a final push to go and watch the movie. This is the only time that we really see the movie in the trailer in full screen as almost all of it was filmed as if we were in the cinema but this quick transition would catch the audience by surprise and really have them gain a memory of the trailer which is the real purpose of a trailer.

Similar to The Devil Inside which I have analysed earlier, the title is quite plain but we witness an effect on the title with the sound of a camera being distorted. This is how paranormal activity is trying to make the audience remember this trailer. Furthermore the background is plain black and this really emphasizes the title. Just before the title, we witness a character being thrown into the camera and I believe that the title was put here because that specific scene would have gained the audience’s attention. After the title, we see something for less than a second but if it is noticed by the audience, then they will remember the trailer if they haven't already.

The target audience will get drawn in through the camera types but ultimately by the mysteriousness and the horror scenes that this trailer entails. We don't really gain a lot of information about the main characters. this adds to the level of suspense that this trailer was trying to build which ultimately will make the horror scenes seem more horrific in people’s perceptions than they actually might be. So the Horror scenes are also the other factor which will attract their target audience of old teenagers and young adults.

Overall, I feel as if there is a lot to learn from this movie and how making a horror trailer may be the easiest yet most effective. In my first year of AS media studies where we had to do the opening two minute of a movie, we were encouraged to stay away from Horror movies as they have slow starts but this year we are getting told that a horror trailer could be quite easy and I have to say that I too agree. More specifically about this trailer, the use of camera is one that I can't forget as it was done so effectively. Paranormal Activity has been so successful with such a small budget so I'm sure that I will keep on reverting back to this trailer when we are shooting ours.

Trailer Analysis - Men In Black 3

Men In Black 3(2012) had a budget of $215 million making a net profit of $419 million making the movie was highly successful. Being released as being the film completion of a trilogy. 

In the beginning we are introduced to the characters, although we know them from the previous two films this set Todorov’s narrative theory with an introduction. One of the actors speaking is used as a voiceover to narrate the trailer, with the audience potentially thinking why are they wearing suits, the actors puts the question into their minds by asking ‘who are we?’. From this moment the audience wants to find out and continue to watch on, followed by introduction to bizarre weapons, the narrative continues to tell us about them as the voice over states ‘we are no one’. This makes the audience think that they are secret agent which tells them it’s not only a sci-fi movie due to the bizarre guns, but also an action as they will be fighting aliens. Many short cuts are used as editing to set the tempo and mood for it, seeing different types of creatures which in fact are aliens, audience know little extract from the film and may feel hungry to watch more, easy and effective way to attract audience.

The pacing really ranges from slow or fast in the middle of the trailer, changing dramatically constantly throughout the trailer towards the end. Making a roller coaster like feel to the trailer potentially denoting the movie will be the same way. The trailer makes the audience think there are action pact scenes in the movie due to the weapons; although there are no explosions or any other real action scenes like in other trailers, yet the camera changes and non diegetic sound make it seem like an action trailer setting the tempo of it. Other action trailers control pace through explosions and so on,  a way to build enthusiasm, however with this trailer, it shows that high budgeted explosions don’t have to be the ones setting the mood for action trailers, as sound and camera angles are used effectively here.

With the main piece of action used as the main character jumped of the building with non diegetic music supporting the moment creating a fearful striking scene. A point of view shot is used really well here so the audience would get frightened by the sight the actor is seeing and so they would feel a part of his journey, as if they are with him. The audience would feel as if they were actually falling especially as it states at the end the movie will be in 3D, the audience would be deluded about the quality and spectacle of the falling and experience of it.

Followed by the title of the film, the audience thinks it’s the end of the trailer, but to make them think the producers tried to squeeze last piece of information about the movie, they added another scene after that to make the audience think that he went back in time successfully but don’t find anything else about it.

The title is presented in a very high tech modern fashion, high quality zooming out of it as if its getting further away from the viewers. Title size and bolding really makes it stands out in the middle of the screen, covering the majority of it, being the only thing we could see, gaining attention from the audience of what it is they are interested in. Having the USP of the trilogy completion, although nothing referenced back to the first two movies, like other sequels would, Men in Black really made me feel like this wasn’t a completion of a trilogy but actually its own movie, which is abnormal. The recognition of Will Smith being the main character can be argued against in this trailer as are seen putting their black glasses on and opening the door at the same time, just as if they were symmetrical implies that they are equal.  As well as the narration is agent K’s voice, we are being fed that he comes along the journey with the audience and isn’t left behind, nevertheless coming across as mysterious and unexplained in the trailer of what really happens, leaves the audience wanting to know the rest of the film by watching it. The control of pace and tempo through music and camera angels really impressed me as its not something I have seen before. Showing me that a essential soundtrack and good shot taking, can make an impressive piece of trailer look high budgeted and top quality. 

Trailer Analysis - American Pie The Reunion

This movie budgeted $50 million and made a box office of $235 million which just proves its success.

Straight away the film distribution name of the film is seen, with many other trailers including their distribution companies at the beginning to address audience of its quality and publicity it will be getting.

The Main Characters are introduced when the cameras first shot is a close up of a picture of the couple even though the audience is aware of the actors and characters that will be starring in the film, this links to Todorov’s narrative theory.

The camera work in the first scene is worked around really smartly as it pans around the bed. This denotes a sexual reference especially with the clothes around the bed on the floor and bed squeaking up and down. This will draw the audience in straight away as it shows comedy straight away and emphasis the genre.

The pace of the trailer increases as the trailer goes on, getting quicker and quicker as well as the soundtrack. Even though it’s not building up to anything significant, the structure of it is quite attention grabbing.

At this is a reunion film, the trailer includes a lot of how the actors grew up since their early years. "They have grown up .... but they haven't settled down," tell the audience that even though many years past and they may except them to be different, they aren’t and should expect similar content to what they had in previous films.

At the scene of the party, all characters are seen to re enforce the fact that they haven’t grown up as its looks very college like. The character known as "Stifler" is also wearing clothes that could be associated with the class of 99 and this again shows that the producers are trying to carry on the legacy of the trailer.

The title at the end is used really well, as the background of the title is white which makes the title stand out as its red. Making it look as if it’s a badge, the font is very bold and in the middle of the page thus given most dominant. The title is put before the end scene to cause a cliff-hanger for the audience to be left curious and watch the film. Although most of the trailers I have analysed have the movie title right at the end, this makes the audience think its trying to squeeze all the footage out to them as possible and desperate to watch more.

The USP for this trailer is the previous franchise success, not something I can build on as my trailer will be a one off and not done every few years or so, therefore I have nothing to build on as well. Although the narrative of the trailer is used really well through text and scenes, a lot of reinforcement is shown about people’s initial ideas about American Pie and its classical conventional college adult humour parties.

Trailer Analysis - Grown ups

Grown Ups was released in 2010 and made a box office of around $270 million in comparison to its $80 million budget this film by the big named actors starring in this film was a success. 

Beginning with a flashback of a championship basketball match we are introduced to the characters when they were children. With the use of fade from character to character this is a simple and easy way to edit a trailer. As well as black and white effect to show that it was a past memory and was quite old.

With the photo taking edit, a quick cut is seen to the setting of the location of the movie, so the audience would get familiar with it, here the high tempo happy music starts to show the atmosphere in the movie.

In this movie, there is a narrative which is a voice over. It was applied due to younger audiences in families to understand it. The voice over in here helps to tell the story and introduce the characters.

The film has 5 main characters which will gain a large audience, with all of them being different i.e. Chris Rock to black people, which involves his family in at which people would be attracted to see just like Big Momma’s House movies.
A lot of information is specified about the characters, having an effect of bringing fans closer to them and making them feel as if they are close and should watch the film. A lot of teasers are used to create small cliff-hangers so the audience wouldn't know how it ends and would want to watch the film. The only scene that they showed off in detail was with the swinging rope as its funny. Creating is unique selling point which is its genre specifically that there is a lack of films associated with it as it shows comedy in families and bonding.

With the titles being colourful and to show that this movie is quite happy. The title has the same font type as the entire narrative but is right at the end of the trailer and that is why we will remember the movie. The picture in the background supports its genre of being a family movie and makes the title itself stand out.

The directors really thought about the actors as they used all ages to reach to target audience with one of the character’s wife being old. The differences between the characters is one way in which the appeal to their target audience but also the movie starts off with a flashback of the main characters as children which appeals to the younger audience.

The title is right at the end once again as it makes it easier to remember the title of the movie by the audience. From this trailer, I now know how to show off a flashback. Something I struggled with last year when using flashbacks in my action thriller opening two minutes.

Trailer Analysis - Django Unchained

Django Unchained is a 2012 western American film, the film grossed over $425 million worldwide in theaters against its $100 million budget.

The trailer begins with non-diegetic music which gives the trailer a fairly slow start. Then we see a long distance shots of the same group of people walking. The black people are in chains and the white people on horses give a first impression on what this film is actually about. Dominance is shown to one man as he gets the only close up among the long shots surrounding it. Around 38 seconds, the audience comes across the main character which is in the background and it is dark, so there is more importance on him and the other black prisoners being irrelevant.

The first piece of action happens with a very fast and effective shot/reverse shot to make Django and his partner look dangerous. Django conforms the stereotype of the buck as he is presented with aggressiveness and violence although trying to save his love subverts it as it shows that he isn't sexually aggressive.

The action takes places at all times of the day, in dark and light, with the unique selling point of this trailer is shown at the start as an aggressive action packed "A New Film by Quentin Tarentino". Although can be seen as a director who makes similar films.

The clothing worn by Django is very attention-grabbing as he is on a horse and he is wearing a bright purple suit, subverting the stereotype of black people being poor, particularly when the film is set.

The target audience is 18 year olds and over with many action scenes in this film. Additionally the Ku Klux Klan, linked with killing and violence gives the audience an indication of the times that this movie is set around.

Overall, this trailer has a lot of content and has more action than narrative. Having the USP of having a lot of violence and action; being different from other movies. Although there is not voice over in this trailer, which is a conventional action themed film as scenes from the movie are used to attract audience.

Magazine Cover Analysis - Cinema Retro:Psycho

The main picture of the actor, of which was the protagonist in the movie Psycho, looks to be in the back stage of a set. As she is wearing a lace bra and a high waist girdle, looking at the camera making the audience feel as if they are back stage with her, even though she does not look uncomfortable, this creates a Para-social relationship between her and her fans. Although as the movie is set in the 50’s, women usually and especially then wear revealing clothes on magazine front covers suggesting that the target audience is male. However, her facial expression and body language show that she is confident somewhat than being a sexual target, which makes me, think that it is aimed at the older more mature generation with stylish taste rather than flesh showing woman.

As the movie was made a long time ago, the photo was taken in black and white, proving this statement. When looking behind the actors, is can be stated that it’s within a building, potentially a house or hotel, with fancy wallpaper, lamps, furniture and frames to insert photos. Medium shot of her is taken to show enough of her to attract audience and to show the surrounding.

Title Psycho is virtually placed in the middle of the cover to link the image and title together, with her looking right at the camera and facial expression being kind of shocked, audience may think they have that in common.

With the magazine name being at the top, like in any other magazine front cover, the positioning is very conventional for the layout, being central and attention seeking. With the use of bold grey and black italics to differ both words on the magazine name, especially with the font use makes it look old fashioned with the impression of being a classic publisher.

The content on the bottom right includes famous names, which are associated with the film industry and unlikely to be known by young audience, supporting my statement about older male being the intended audience in which they would be attracted to this magazine.

This front cover is very simple, with one picture used, without much writing, in which the main focus is the woman of course, makes it seem very easy to read, which I really admire about this old fashioned way of publishing. 

Magazine Cover Analysis - Entertainment Weekly:Scream Returns

Price is not shown on the front suggesting its expensive, but potentially high quality. No way of finding out the price on the cover is given, so what is included within the issue, is in there. Also no tag line is included which could mean that there is one main focus on the cover, which is to promote scream 4. It uses actor names well on the bottom right as they are connected with the film to grab audience’s attention of which are fans of theirs to watch their film and buy the magazine consequently resulting in more views and more money. ‘Scream returns’ is contrasting well in white and stands out as the most important info on the page as it’s bold and easy to read. With the main article being the only real content that jumps out to eye sight, the main image is associated with it which is done really well especially with the red background and the use of ‘bloody battle’ which associates it with the image and genre attracting fans.

Right at the top, other films are promoted but are not given as much dominance on the front cover; although they also attract audience by showing the variety they include the magazine.

Colours used are conventional, red, and black and white. Including the red, creates a dangerous, bloody atmosphere connoting fear. Getting the main focus is the only image on the cover, being dressed in Black Death costume, known as the Scream from previous films, links in that a lot of scariness and fright. This will attract audience as the mask is the symbol for the known franchise, making it really stand out, as there is nothing else to grab the attention off the cover.

Magazine Cover Analysis - Entertainment Weekly:The Hangover 2

The 'entertainment weekly' is big and bold in yellow, connoting happiness, friendly and funny could suggest people should go see it. As its weekly, it has current information, potentially meaning the magazine is likely to be a cheaper.

With the colours being mostly light and warm, linking with the expressions on the faces of the main characters, their facial expressions are mischievous and in act to link to the genre. A plain green background possibly could suggest to the audience that the actors are the only things that matter. With their position being on centre may suggest that they are all equally as important and come as a trio, this builds interest into their relationships to each other. 

Although the title of the film is smaller than the big text underneath it 'bad boys', it is used with the same font and surrounding to make it look official and legitimate. With the text ‘bad boys’ being bigger underneath  could suggest that the figure in the magazine is more a character profile than about the film, the white stands out clearly against the background. Yet the text below reveals features and scenes that occur in the film. 'Bad boys' attracts attention, causing the cliché 'everyone loves a bad boy' attracting a female audience.

On the other side of the front cover, the text is differed by colours making it easier to read; as a result audiences are more likely to read it. Information on the magazine cover is limited, potentially because the actors have such big influence on audience to attract them.

Poster Analysis - The Hangover

The background and main theme of the poster with the gold bright lights and the lit up film title appear to represent the highs of being drunk. The bright colours of reds and golds are warm happy colours making their setting appear happy and exciting. However the colours of their clothes (dull) and the contradictory main image of the characters seems to represent the aftermath. The consequences and anti-climax of the events of the previous night are shown by the loss of a tooth of one of the characters and their general shabby appearance. The picture is presented photographically making it seem as if it could have happened in real life.

The messages of the poster are primarily visual and simply suggest that the plot sees the characters going through rough situations.

The strap line 'SOME GUYS JUST CANT HANDLE VEGAS' links with the picture and suggests to the audience that the film is comedy. This tells the audience the location of the film without having to include it in the main picture, Vegas is a popular location for comedy films so is well established within the genre. Conventions such as the location, wear and tear of the characters and implied comical personalities of the main characters are all addressed and represented in this poster.

The intended target audience of this poster is likely to be young people and those of a similar age to the main characters so they can relate the character’s mishaps to things that have happened in their own lives.

The poster promises an escape from the real world and the ability to relate to the main characters. Attention is gained by humour in the appearance of the poster and the tag line uses humour to link in with the general look of the poster and the genre.

'FEEL IT JUNE 5TH' speaks to the target audience (15-25) engaging them by using their lingo. The main text is in capitals and arranged in size according to importance. This draws the audience’s attention to the text in order of hierarchy.

The commercial expressions on the faces of the characters are typical of films from the comedy genre it suggests trouble and conflict from a comedy perspective.

The poster features a strap line at the top which tells the audience another film from the same director. This will reach out to fans of the film 'Old School', suggesting that if they enjoyed that film they would like the film in question as well.

This poster does not feature the names of the main actors suggesting that they are not a major selling point of the film (however this film may be the launch of their careers).
The institution company is not featured on the poster showing that it is not a main selling point of the film.

Poster Analysis - Rocky

This poster only includes the main actor which is standing with his arms up high in the air, as if he has won something. Making the audience think there is a journey on which he went to win this, even though there is a statue in front of him which is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

With the background being Philadelphia, buildings are faded out, making the back of the main character stand out, even though the audience don’t know who he is, they are left curious, for them to take a closer look at the credits at the bottom of the page.

A black and white colouring design was given to this poster to imply the time this film was set at, giving the poster an old fashioned look. Black and white design stands out from other modern film posters, which make it unique and grabs audience’s attention.

By looking at the poster, it could be guessed its a drama genre, although very hard to correctly answer. This may be done to secret the film’s genre so audience will go away and find out more about it, leaving them curious.

The title being placed at the top, in large size and font being very bold, is done really well as the colours contrast and make the title stand out making it look bigger than it actually is. Above it, on the left hand side, a small sized slogan is used to create a more dramatic effect.

With the credit usually being at the bottom of the page, it looks rather like separated from the rest of the picture with the use of simple picture being blended into a white background. We see this as different parts of the poster, although these credits being enormous compared to others which are more central and smaller sized, it can be said the film has to include big names which would attract audience. The big question is why is a date not included, and the only answer I could think of would be to get the audience to research more into it, as they aren't actually given much information at all in this poster.

Trailer Analysis - World War Z

World War Z was released in 2013, grossing over $540 million against a production budget of $190 million, making it a success.

The use of Brad Pitt being the main actor in this movie would help attract an audience as Brad Pitt’s reputation as an action is unarguable.
The plot starts off with the main actors in a car, in a traffic jam, all peacefully until the equilibrium is disrupted in Todorov’s narrative theory. Although we are not told much is no voiceover is used to tell us what is going on, a contagious infection is sweeping though the city of New York turning ordinary people into zombies, at which the hero(Prop’s character theory) goes off to to keep his family safe. We aren’t shown, but there probably will be a helper too.

With this trailer being a very conventional action/horror trailer, as the catastrophe is presented with music and scenes such as explosions rather than dialogue or voiceover.

The location changes throughout the trailer, from city streets to building roofs, cars to helicopters to appeal to the audience with flashes of apocalyptic scenes to set the tempo and engage with frightened viewers.

A key aspect to this trailer is the music, with heavy guitar notes playing to emphasise the danger, making it high paced and high tempo, the soundtrack really increases the emotions the audience have especially with such a calm and plain beginning only to turn to a disaster making it seem really action filled.

Costumes were used very realistically as the main character wears casual clothes, whereas the military always wore camouflage to conform their roles, this is done simply but effectively.  

Magazine Cover Analysis - Empire: Mission Impossible 4

The main image is used as the most iconic Mission Impossible actors within the last few films, implying they will be in this film too. Including the main characters which assist the attractions of audience’s attention as characters have a big fan bases, therefore they are engaging to an audience that includes fans of action films, spy films, sci-fi films and fans of actors.

The genre is difficult to recognise from the balance in this cover image, with nothing showing what kind of genre it could be. The USP being greatly shown as just using the name of the Mission Impossible franchise as people cannot gather much else from the image but only the title.

The characters are all wearing black which is iconic in this movie franchise. The background is unclear are hard to understand where they are. It is a relatively dark image as the rest of the characters are wearing dark clothes, giving the cover a mystifying mood because none have any gory cuts, blood etc on them suggesting its an action, helping promote the film as the audience don’t know why they are gathered around to look at the viewer.

Title is used well to contrast as its white against black background to it, it is placed in the centre of the page, which really grabs the eye sight, as it pops out of the page, especially as its white vs black. The clean white colour makes it look clean and more appealing to the audience as the font used is similar to the famous Empire font at the top, links the whole magazine front cover well.

I think this magazine front cover looks too loaded with information, with the extra images on the bottom of the page, although it looks appealing, it is an interesting way of creating a front cover.

Magazine Cover Analysis - Empire: Skyfall

James Bond is featured as the main image in this magazine front cover. He is in the icon James Bond black suit. He is known around the world. Wearing the black suit makes him stand out from the background, especially with the contrast of colours.

To increase audience attention, bullet holes are edited in imaginary glass. Located around him to emphasise the attention the centre which is Bond, as his face or body aren’t covered in the bullet holes, this is done to appeal to the audience as it helps them identify and clarify the genre and James Bond.

‘Skyfall’ is used to contrast the colours of Bond’s suit which is black and the title is white, this is a very simple and easy way to catch the audience’s eye sight as it stands out.

Just under the central title, "BOND. BACK IN BUSINESS" is written, just in smaller size, to link previous films into it and that even though a break was taken, he is back where he belongs.

At the bottom of the magazine front cover we can see pictures of previous James Bond franchise actors which would help the older generation recognise him even though the actors change once in a while.

Behind the images, its looks very clean with only a white screen, making James Bond stand out and be the dominant image in this cover. Even though other films are being linked as well, they are at the sides of the magazine making Bond the focus. 

Trailer Analysis - G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation

G.I Joe is a 2013 American science fiction action film. Had a budget of $130 million and a box office of $375 million, can be said that it is a successful film.

The USP for this film is the established recognisable actors within the film, known for success in previous films, attracting a wider range of audience and fans, increasing its box office. It can be argued as another USP that the exceptional actions stunts the previous film is known for. This can attract action enthusiasts to watch the film and create a wider range of audience.

Typical action conventions are used: army clothing, guns, tanks and flying helicopters, explosions and violence, the target audience is appealed by using these. With the narrative beginning with some cliché explosions; kidnapping, and here come some of its sci-fi which G.I Joe's has to stop the alien invasion, rescue the president and save everyone.

The music plays a big part in this trailer, setting the tempo and creating tension, making the audience feel excited and joyful. With the change of music during the titles, lets the audience focus and take in what they read. At about half way, the music changes to the iconic soundtrack of GI Joe so that audience know its GI Joe if they haven’t figured it out yet, could bring out goose bumps from the audience and would have emotions towards the movie so they would want to watch the full movie. The music makes the trailer seem powerful and dominant with sharp and strong sound.

Use of voiceover is done to create a back story, the audience would be aware of reasons to why and what is happening, instead of just putting together explosions and gun shots this is a very well structured narrative which doesn’t give too much away.

Topless shots of Channing Tatum and other male actors hint at a female audience to watch the film even though the genre would attract male audience, the producers want to widen its target audience. As many of the shots include Channing Tatum, he is used as a public figure to grab audience attention and increase viewers. 

Trailer Analysis - Gravity

Gravity is a Science fiction Thriller, released in 2013, had a budget of $100 million and made a box office of $716 million.

A great scene is set to grab audience’s attention by the establishing long shot of the earth from out of space, telling us where the film is set. As we hear a male voiceover referring to the view, possibly indicating a POV shot, as if we are there with the man. With the diegetic voiceover growing into a conversation between two people, no clear narration is used to tell the story during the trailer leaves the viewers hungry to find out more.

The conversation creates enigma between the audiences as they don’t get to know the characters much more, although suspense is build and persuasion to watching the film is also involved as the audience realise they are involved between this conversation.

With a variety of shots being taken ranging from long to medium close ups to extreme close up on both the characters. A convention of the trailer is used with titles being placed between shots alongside conversation creating narrative exhibition. Only witnessing space in the trailer a post modern atmosphere is set with a clear sci-fi genre shown. Jean Baudrillard’s Hyper reality can be brought into this as all filmed is CGI but audience thinks it’s real, but it’s not. With amazing effects to create this look real, soft non diegetic music is used throughout the trailer is used, while reaching Todorov’s theory of equilibrium, a disruption is caused to create tension at which the music stops to bring out the diegetic sound out. With the shots of the explosion are accompanied by loud diegetic sounds of discomfort. The panicked atmosphere is toughened by the overstated diegetic sound of the female astronaut hyperventilating.

This creates the scene for the female astronaut as the weaker character (princess in Propp’s character theory) who needs saving by the protagonist which we don’t find out. With her being blown into space, different types of shots are used to imply the speed of all the disruptions happening in, without being able to absorb much in, placing us in space and worries us if they will survive, wanting us to watch the film. As the female character continues to shout in discomfort, the pace of the trailer does not slow down, as the disaster hasn’t ended. At this moment titles begin to appear on screen showing us that producers from previous known films have created this movie which would attract a larger audience base to go watch the film. 

Trailer Analysis - The Vow

The film was released in 2012 and is a romantic drama. The film had a budget of $30 million and made a box office of $196 million, seen as a successful film.

The trailer begins with character introduction, with the attention being on the two getting married, the audience is getting to know who this film will be about. Followed by a voice over of the guy speaking and describing his love to her, with a montage of their romantic moments catches the audience into thinking its adorable, with the target audience of female, they will want to continue to watch as they would wish to enjoy it.

The following has the equilibrium is broken, in Todorov's theory; the wife forgets that the man is her husband and who he is as a whole; he has a mission of getting her back to remember him and love him. As in most trailers, it gives its narrative away except the ending; however it does not give away the ending, connoting that the audience will have to see the film to find out the ending.

The atmosphere is set really well, before the accident, the trailer is bright and cheerful, with the characters are happy, this is well used to show the emotions of the characters without words. After the accident, the music changes dramatically to make the audience feel emotional and uncomfortable, making it seem depressing with less lit stages to support this. Setting these moods, engages with the audience to persuade them to watch the full movie, which is done really cleverly, as they don’t notice it.

The music sets the atmosphere really well as well as the lighting and editing. Cheerful music is used before the accident, making the audience feel happy and charismatic, to contrast at the accident it stops to make the audience feel tense and involved and afterwards dramatic music is used to make the audience have sympathy, emotion and sense of involved to have a sense of hope.

The release date is actually shown twice in the trailer, once in the middle, once at the end, to remind the audience and have more of an effect on them to remember when they can watch it. Without actually stating a date on it, they are told its valentine’s day, known for romance, links in well to the release date.

Titles are done well in this trailer as actors names come up when they are on screen, stating their previous success in previous films, could attract audience who liked those movies. Also yellow/white background is used when and black font which is in the middle of the screen to catch the viewers attention and remember what’s said. 

Poster Analysis - James Bond 007:Skyfall

We witness the poster in a long shot; this type of shot produces a background view of the whole setting as well as the character in this instance. From this poster, at a quick glance, it can be said its very patriotic British, with the view of the iconic buildings of London (Big Ben and Houses of Parliament) tells the audience the film’s location and set. Especially with the gloomy weather as Britain is known for.  

Moving on to the classic Aston Martin car, with is again being British and the franchise’s use of car in previous films, the audience knows its James Bond’s car; its old number plate suggests so too. Leaning on the car we see the focus of this poster, James Bond, wearing a tuxedo as he always would, showing his high intelligence of being a secret agent, although he holds a gun may imply danger and authority.

With the old fashioned aim of the poster, usage of black and white colours to it has a good effect of portrayal of early James Bond productions, being linked with the old number plate of the car, the only part of the poster not being black or white is the highlighted gold ‘007’ underneath the ‘Skyfall’ title. Making it stand out with the famous number as known to all, without having to state who he actually is, attracting audience through this enigma, Bond shown wealth with the tuxedo, car and gold features. A gun is blended in with his famous ‘007’ number re enforcing it as his logo, connoting fighting and danger.

Font usage in this is very unique as its not used with extreme colours to make it stand out, and is edited to look as if it’s dirty to make it blend in with the poster really well, placed under the car may denote hiding and concealing from danger i.e. Bond’s enemies.   

The USP of this poster is the usage of the franchise name, being James Bond although it’s not mentioned anywhere, we see the gold plated logo of ‘007’ with the gun, making it known to all who it is. Patriotism is also brought into this poster, including all British scenery, would attract anyone interested in British culture. With Bond holding his gun and not looking anywhere in particular but the ground, connotes him planning in his head a way to defeat his enemies. Virtually showing us it is an action film, which will include chase scenes, guns, fights and explosions. 

Poster Analysis - Superman:Man of Steel

The poster is designed to draw the audience in a vibrant and eye catching way. This is the selling point of it. Witnessing a blurred urban area in the background/under the main focus, implying and connoting that superman is flying with rapid speed, portraying his superpowers. Although we don’t actually see him in high quality either may imply that he is just going past the audience. On the left of his right shoulder, a very bright light is presented, the audience not knowing what it is, may imply that its either the sun or some form of aliens, either way, this is placed smartly making him look superior.

The poster does not include the word ‘Superman’ but actually 'Man of Steel', it is in a dark blend of silver and black, although the word ‘Steel’ has a flare on it stand out and much bright than the rest of the title.

The facial expression of superman gathers that he’s serious, potentially determined to save people as it’s what he is all about. The clothing of superman concludes the conventional superman uniform with a red cape and a blue costume, of course including his logo/symbol on the chest making him seem strong and powerful.

The USP of this poster is the taking away the name superman away from him, naming him the man of steel would sound more modern and invincible. Portraying a character which can defeat anyone as steel is a strong material especially when wearing a red cape which signify danger.

Trailer Analysis - This Is The End

This film was released in 2013, having a budget of around $32 million and making a box office of about $126million, it is seen as a success. The film is directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and features actors such as James Franco Seth Rogan and cameos from Emma Watson, Channing Tatum and Rihanna. This helps to attract an audience from fans of those actors and the directors, as well as people that like comedy films. 

The plot is based around the end of the world events and the main characters have to barricade themselves inside of a house to survive, with only a few bottles of water, lots of beer and a few food items. This is a typical setting for a horror/action/sci fi/comedy film. The breaking of the equilibrium is the end of the world event, and even though the trailer does not explicitly say it, but one would assume that the main characters have to save the world. The narrative theory that the film conforms closest to is Todorov's theory. The start shows a stable state of equilibrium and then the equilibrium is disrupted and the characters have to survive, as well as restore the equilibrium. The film does not conform to propp's theory as it has no defined hero, villain or any of the roles, its almost like all of the main characters play the heros and a few of the other character types come and go briefly.

The rest of the setting starts of with a house party setting, with all of the character enjoying themselves, then the setting suddenly changes to a fire ridden apocalypse setting. The contrast between the two settings amplifies the main setting which is the apocalyptic setting. This makes the audience see that the events happening are, well, "serious".

The sound that is in the trailer has a background rap track the plays almost throughout the entirety of the trailer. The track at the beginning helps to make the beginning of the film seem very light hearted and easy going, but the track continues over to the second setting of the trailer, which helps to keep the audience in the mid set of that this film is a comedy and not as serious action film. The dialogue in the film is small snippets of the film, which help to give the audience a small outline of the plot of the film, but not give it away completely.

The costumes which the characters are wearing in the film are very typical of average american people, as the film is based around the actors playing themselves. The setting is typical is said before and everything else is very typical of a modern American film.

The camera angles that are used in the trailer are fairly simple as well. As there is not really any complicated fight or chase scenes, the camera angles can be kept simple and the match on action is limited to talking scenes. A more wide variety of camera angles would have made the film more technically impressive, but the whole point of a comedy is to entertain, and making it more technically impressive would not have added entertainment value, therefore making it pointless. 

Trailer Analysis - The Dark Knight Rises

This film was released in 2012 as the close of the Trilogy. The film had a budget of around $275 million and made a box office of $1.1 billion, which is a massive success. 

This trailer is different from most other trailers within its genre, as this is due to long build up, without action collection of scenes as most actions films tend to do so. Oppositely it makes an emotional feel; with more drama scenes as death occur. The first action scene can be argued is the sequence in which the plane is expertly destroyed.

In the background is a very subtle soundtrack that, being simple and frightening as if some on the brink of some approaching tragedy. With the voiceover stating 'there's a storm coming' supports this well. The music begins to pick up pace around the 1:08 area, adding in the strings slowly and starting to increase. It is cautiously layered, adding in a new section of the orchestra as the trailer moves on, nonetheless seeing this is very rare for any trailer especially an action one. This music may be said that the whole film is one long ending to the Dark Knight Trilogy, in which the protagonist faces his final enemy. This is carried out by the line 'You don't owe these people any more, you've given them everything', to which Batman responds 'Not everything', which shows that there is still something coming potentially him sacrificing his life for the people.

The use of music and tempo increase may be linked to the mentality in which Batman is in, at the start he is on the verge of giving up and at the end he is ready to fight and give his best. The simple start to the music shows his poor start at the beginning of the film, and then at the end his final battle. However, many conclusions can be drawn from the music used which is a very powerful tool to use.

Although the fonts in the trailer are simple, they are a strong approach, with the titles appearing in the middle of the screen, snatching attention as they don’t occupy my space. Within mind that technique being more appropriate and influential as using large letters and fancy fonts will look hideous and dull. For many action movies the font is a lot bigger, so they stand out and jump off the screen, but here the font stands out from the crowd by being small. The titles have a mix of light and dark, making the titles look shadowy and threatening. The use of shadows is extremely pinnacle, as they connote Batman giving it a 3D element and darkness, reflecting the rough scenery of this Batman film. Mixing these two ideas together gives it a very clean, yet dark look, reflecting the whole mood of the film. To make it even more high tech, the shadows also move across the title as it goes on. To enhance this 3D look, in the trailer the font also grows larger in the few seconds that it is onscreen. This is something I am considering using this year in my trailer, with the titles being white and background being black, as it has so much positive influence on the audience

This trailer has shown me a different way to create a trailer in which not all scenes have to be fast paced, and quick tempo. It advances the film to a whole new viewpoint that makes the trailer stand out from all the others. In which I believe it’s USP is so influential because people do not actually think about this.  

Trailer Analysis - James Bond Quantum of Solace

This film was released in 2008, budgeting $200 million and making a box office of around $590 million, being considering as a successful film.

Being a James Bond film, it would include a variety of action scenes, and I think the trailer presents this well. At the start of the trailer, we sees flashes of different scenes in the movie, these shots are used to fade in and out creating a smoother transaction. This trailer continues to present the film with flashes of scenes contrasting action and conversation sequences as we witness at about 40 seconds in with non diegetic sound used blended in with the action pieces, and Bond walking up a hill in slow motion.

The slow shots are put with a long, strained out message from 'M' which forms an interesting mixture, building up tension, with Bond lifting up his gun in slow motion, at the same time as the fast shots show pieces of the action sequences to come, leaving the audience at the edge of their seat, waiting to watch the entire film.

As the progression moves on, the sound of both diegetic and non diegetic pieces grow to create more tension. This is done well as the audiences slowly are brought to see that Bond is carrying a weapon.

The audience now understand that something essential will occur and await the climax of the trailer. By having an enjoyable highlight the film gives the audience an effect which makes them want to watch the whole film to find out the rest. It is all well put together, as Bond asks 'how long have I got?’ to which the answer is '30 seconds'. This puts the audience at tension as its short amount of time at which a lot of action is placed within the 30 seconds, to impress the audience with the action in the film as if they are experiencing high quality scenes which they know is made to make them watch the film, creating a relationship between the audience and trailer as a cliff-hanger.  

The last thirty seconds of the trailer are very fast, making the audience thinks that as much as possible is fit in to show them, but in fact it persuades them to watch the film. It is purposely promoted towards the stereotypical male, with the use of weapons, cars, and women. However, contrastingly we witness Bond topless, informing me that there is also a female target audience in this.

At the end, using Bond walking up the hill the trailer finishes with the famous soundtrack of the franchise, in time with the quick shots. With it being so iconic, people who do not recognize it being James Bond trailer before, they would do at that point.

The James Bond music really makes this trailer stand out, as it’s not just an action film; it’s a classic James Bond movie which attracts so many people into watching it, as well as the action being perceived even more intense as a result of it.

The trailer really impresses me with the amount of action scenes the producers decided to show, fist fights, running chases, cars chases, boat chases, and plane shooting. The trailer is very effective in the aspect of pace, slow at the start and fast at the end; with shots at the beginning including Bond sitting down in a chair, to the end him chasing around and fighting, putting liveliness and excitement into the audience.    

The next few shots support this scary start with the poorly lit lighting that only shows half of people’s faces, resulting in the rest of their face in shadow. This follows the dialogue, where the antagonist says ‘if she didn’t kill her herself, we would of killed you too’; making it seem like no one Bond is in danger and could be killed anytime soon.

This trailer uses editing technique well to promote the famous franchise of Bond films, and does exceptionally well to advertise the full film without giving too much away but shows enough to get the audience interested and worried about the safety of him. We never find out if he gets killed, but as being James Bond, we all know he survives but want to go on the journey with him.