Thursday 13 June 2013

Film Trailer Conventions

In this task we pinpointed what conventions were shown in these 4 trailers to find out what the target audience is and what conventions exactly were used.

Chariots of Fire

Genre - Historical docudrama/biopic

Target audience with evidence
This version of Chariots of Fire is a digitally remastered version which is essentially re-released in cinemas. Because Chariots of Fire is a film that was originally released in 1981 we thought that the film was targeted for those who are middle-aged so around 40-60 years old because they may have watched it around when it was originally released. Because the story is about a British runner in the 1924 Olympics it may appeal to those who are interested, or who are involved in Athletics and sport because they can relate to the characters. The trailer is slow-paced because it is targeted around people who are middle-aged.

Conventions included
The trailer included review quotations from newspapers such as the New York Times and the L.A Times which represents that the film is known worldwide in countries such as the USA. These quotations include 'A British Classic' emphasising that it is an important film and very popular British film. 'Exceptional' is another word which is mainly used by British people. These quotations represent emotive language and may encourage the British potential audience to watch the film. The Unique Selling Point (USP) is the soundtrack because it is iconic and recognisable with the British public and all around the world and it won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. There are a lot of fade to black transitions in this trailer but that is mainly to show the review quotations, ratings and awards it has won which is conventional because the trailer needs to show this information with the audience to connote its importance and achievement. The trailer shows that it won 4 Academy Awards which persuades the audience they would trust its judgement of it being good. The lettering of the intertitles are written in capitals and it is very bold and is suitable as it is white on black which is conventional because the audience can read it clearly. The voiceover in the trailer was done with dialogue from the film so it can quote relevant and memorable lines which are suitable for the trailer and what it is about and also the voice is a deep male British voice.

Skyfall

Genre - Action

Target audience with evidence
Because the James Bond film series has been going on for over 50 years, with Skyfall being the 23rd film in the series its main target audience is those who are fans of the James Bond films. And also of those who have followed the legacy of the James Bond franchise so this film will have a very wide appeal of the majority of ages, especially those who are around 16-50 years old. Probably those who are older than that as well because the film series has been going on for over 50 years. The trailer was fast-paced because its an action film and wanted the audience to indicate that it's an action film. There are a lot of guns featured in the trailer which James Bond fans like and for fans of action films.

Conventions included
The trailer included the 007 logo at the end which is very conventional because it is iconic with Bond fans. Because the trailer is fast paced the sounds/music is in sync with the transitions which makes the trailer tense for the audience. Adding the sound effects (drum sounds) and gunshots in sync with the transitions which contributes to it being the trailer more thrilling.This trailer is shown as a montage which is a selection of clips which mainly include fighting and gunfire etc. But the whole trailer has various clips which are set in non-chronological order, meaning that it is not in order which keeps the audience guessing what's going to happen in the film which may surprise them. It features diagetic dialogue of important information about what the film may be like and how some of it unfolds which is relevant to the plot. The production company shown at the beginning is Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer (MGM) which has produced all of the James Bond films and has its iconic lion with the roaring sound which is memorable with film fans. The trailer features its release date so that the audience know when they can watch it and spread the news around to others which is word of mouth. The USP is James Bond because the character is known worldwide through the legacy of the film franchise and also from the books.


Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Genre - Comedy

Target audience with evidence
The trailer is fast-paced because the film is for a younger audience and because of the characters behaviour which young kids would redeem as fun. The film trilogy is based from a childrens books so fans of the books will be interested in watching the film version.

Conventions included
The trailer has a voiceover of a male middle aged person from America because he says it in a way that the film will be fun for a younger audience. It introduces the characters that will be in the film, by which some have appeared in the previous films so the audience know what the characters names are. Some people would know who they are because they already know the characters from the book. Because the film is fast paced there are a lot of cuts in the trailer so the audience can see what the film is going to be like from the selection of cilps which would be the most funny because it is a comedy film and the audience would like to see more lines and scenes that would funny to them. There is some editing/effects at the beginning showing the drawings from the books and then edited to wipe them into the human character. Fans of the book will known the drawings from the book. The USP of the film trailer is the book because they want the fans to watch it.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Genre - Superhero

Target audience with evidence
The films target audience will be mainly fans of superhero films which they have recently made a lot of. The target audience will be of fans of Marvel Comics because that is where they got the idea of Spider-Man because Spider-Man comics have been going on since the late 1960's so there has a legacy with superheroes such as Spider-Man. The target audience would be those who are around 13-40 because a younger audience like superhero films and special effects and also fans of the previous Spider-Man trilogy which was from 2002-2007. The trailer is slow-paced at the beginning and it begins it build-up to being fast-paced which the audience would like seeing as its a superhero film.

Conventions included
In the trailer there is a creative use of a variety of titles including the font which was used in the original Spider-Man film trilogy so they have kept the tradition of the font style. There is a voiceover in the style of a narrator explaining what parts of the film is going to be about including dialogue of Spider-Man "Finding out the truth about his parents" which can encourage the audience to find out how the story unfolds and find out the secrets of the plot. The transitions are a mix of fade to blacks which were at the first half of the trailer because it was slow-paced and then the transitions turned into cuts for the second half so it was suitable with the fast-paced. The trailer reveals when it's going to be released which is in Summer so it doesn't reveal the exact date but it gives an idea of when it's going to be released. The film is also going to be in 3D so that'll appeal to those interested in the 3D format. The USP of the Spider-Man trailer was the costume because it is recognisable with superhero and Marvel fans and so it is also the logo of a spider which is appeared on the costume and in the title.



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