Analysis of 'The Amazing Spiderman' trailer using codes and conventions

'The Amazing Spiderman' trailer uses a voiceover throughout. The voiceover is usually a deep american male voice, which tells us about the narrative of the film, which stars are acting in it and also the release date. Its also has many other functions. However, this trailer subverts from the norm of voiceovers using a characters voice to tell the narrative and doesn't indulge in any other functions. The effect we get from this is an intimacy with the character and the film. This brings the audience into the narrative of the film and takes away from the actual release of the film. "This life is not an easy one" sets the film up for a struggle and discovery. This makes sure the audience are anticipating what the storyline is about and what happens in the film to co-inside with this statement.

Another convention within this trailer is the pace of editing. The slow pace at the beginning captures the audience for whats to come as they expect the climax to reached and it keeps them in suspense. As the trailer goes on the action shots are where the pace of editing quickens and again slows for the more intense clips of trailer, ie not Spiderman in action. This tells the audience that the films not all action, flying around buildings and that there is a backstory to be told and discovered. Which may be emotional. By the end of the trailer there is a montage of 9 different shot within 7 seconds. The effect of the very fast editing is that it finally climaxes and ends with a bang as the editing never slows at the end.

The pace of editing is closely linked to the music of the trailer. By starting of slower and very quite at the beginning co-insides with not only the editing pace but also the montage of images and the voiceover. The effect this places on the audience is that of a eerie beginning to the film and helps create knowing and want for knowing, involving suspense. The music then gets louder with definite crashes and bangs, along side getting more up tempo, following the pace of editing. The music does not quieten or soften for the ending but gets faster and louder to go with the moving images. The effect of the music here and how it ends so abruptly, is it leaves the audience wanting to find out what happens as the end sequence including the music has built up to a crescendo only to stop suddenly. This succeeds its aim to real the audience in using the excitement of the music.  

Stock Characters

Reasearch into killers

Killers in Horror films on Prezi

Burtons Theory

Testing Burton Theory on Prezi

Does Butons Theory work?
From the research I have done on slasher horror movies, Butons theory does come into effect. The use of stock characters, protagonists, stock plots and situations, icons, backgrounds and decor and lastly themes. You can see how similar or even the same factors are used within different films. The films mainly use a collection of the same stock characters within there film which is clear to see and unarguable. For example, The popular girl and jock, mainly being a group of teenagers  All these factors within the theory are all used by films, if not all of them at least one.    

Voiceovers:

A voiceover is an instantly recognisable convention of a film trailer and has several functions which are;

•       Helps us make sense of the narrative by giving us background information, such as where the action is set.
•       Informs us about the characters.
•       Showcases the stars appearing in the film.
•       Gives us information about important production personnel such as the director and producer and their previous work.
•       Helps to build anticipation about the film’s release.
•       Reinforces the title of the film.
•       Sets the tone of the film.
•       Summarises the story in around 5-8 lines. It does not give the ending, but helps us anticipate what is to come.

      The type of voice that is usually used is a male’s voice. It will mostly be deep and powerful. The effect of using this voice is that it comes across very clearly and loud with a slight edge of dominance. This powerfulness helps showcase the trailer and the film. 

When analysing the Honey 2 trailer we saw that not all the function of a voiceover were used, as it didn’t have relevance to the film. For example showcases the stars appearing in the film, the voiceover didn’t need to be used for this as there were no a list stars staring in the film. However some examples of where the functions have been used are informing us about the characters. The voiceover states “Maria has all the right moves...But just couldn’t get the brakes” this sets her up as a good dancer but tells us she is going to have to fight and find her own way. Another example of where the voiceover is used is that it sets the tone of the film when he says “When the battle beings” telling us there is going to be some sort of dance war between to gangs, which is also back up by the moving images we see. The voice over is used again, “She’s gotta take the first step to get a second chance”. This helps us make sense of the narrative by giving us background information, it tells us as an audience she is going to go some sort of struggle by the end of the film.

(UPLOAD SHEET) 

Multimodal texts:

A multimodal text is something that makes meaning through a powerful combination of different modes of communication. The format of a multimodal text includes spoken language, moving images, music and sound effects. Trailers are an excellent example of a multimodal text.

Trailers use a multimodal format due to the fact that by combining these different layers of text they are able to produce the best results possible as it has the biggest impact on the watching audience.

We then looked at ‘Age of Heroes’ trailer to analysis if this was true. This trailer use all the factors of a multimodal text and in my eyes made it successful as a trailer. The spoken language used within the trailer is dialogue for example “an elite smash and grab team” this indicates to the audience the basic outline of the plot and what the film will be about. It also illustrates the theme of the film. Another example from this trailer is the moving images, being soldiers with guns, war aeroplanes and an execution. These impact the audience by giving them a feel for what the film entails and the context of it. They also show the genre of the movie, being action adventure. The music used by the trailer is very dramatic and gets louder and faster like a orchestral crescendo. By having this type of music it builds up tension and anticipation for what is coming next and consequently wants to see the film to find out.

(UPLOAD THE SHEET AND THE TRAILER OF AGE OF HEROES) 

The codes and conventions:

The code and conventions are the key aspects which are used to make up a trailer. Many trailers follow these rules to create successful trailer as it has worked in the past. However some film companies do not and therefore are challenging the codes and conventions of trailers, these trailers are usually successful for the reason of challenging. If too many aspects of the rules are the trailer could end up unsuccessful.

• Plot outline
• Typography
• release date
• certification
• director/actor names
• production companies details
• music/soundtrack
• voiceover
• montage

For examle:

Here is an example of typography being use within a horror trailer, to create a chilling effect of fear. (From the trailer Stinister)

Prodcution compaines and important information will apeare at the begining and/or end of a trailer.

The purpose of film trailers:

Explain why film companies use film trailers.

Film companies use trailers as an important part of their marketing campaign and are a major aspect for a films advertisement. Trailers inform potential audiences about the film and therefore are encouraging people to go and watch the film at the cinema. By having a trailer for your film it attracts much more of an audience and is a better way of advertising then a film poster. Trailers can be viewed in a variety of ways such as: TV channels as adverts, YouTube, facebook and cinemas. This enables the film companies to market to a wide audience. 

Evaluation of existing web logs

Today in class we looked at past years work and the standard in which will be needed. When I looked at 'A2 Advanced Portfolio' I could see the commitment and detail that had been addressed. Not only did they have many blogs, they we all relevant in helping her plan, produce and evaluate her final pieces, which were also blogged. We used at chart sheet to take notes writting down examples of Research, Planning, Production and Evaluation, which they covered very well. Also we commented on what type of media or ICT techniques were used, such as hyperlink, how effectivly the web log convays information. The task section of the the section of the sheet was to say what areas would we employ from the blog to our own.

Then by looking at these blogs we made SMART targets to help us achive success.

1. To make sure I use media/ICT techniques throughout my blog.
2. Blog as much as I can about relevent ideas and not just class work.
3. Talk about each blog post abd explain the reason for blogging it.

Evaluation of my prelim task

When doing the panning for our sequence we sat down and did a mind map and took ideas and wrote them down as what could be our story, what characters we'd have and how they would be meeting. Then we created a storyboard of what each shot would be and how they would transition into the next shot.(PICTURE OF STORYBOARD) After doing that we took to looking around the school and choosing where we would film our sequence. We then cut, added sound and cleaned up our sequence. We used Foley sound well but could have used it even more for things like closing and opening of doors.

Looking back on our prelim task I think we could have done more planning to make sure we had the best possible sequence. Also the cleanness of our sequence could have been better as you can hear some background noise from us within the sequence. When I create my trailer I will make sure I address these improvements and use other techniques to have the best trailer possible.