Film Trailer Analysis #2- A Walk To Remember

A Walk To Remember- 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V96uhfQ0x9A

This film is not very well known however it is a romance drama film, which looks amazing. I personally watched the trailer which made me want to watch the film.

The start of trailer begins with establishing a character, Shane West plays Landon Carter who is a popular kid at school. He then gets into trouble within school. That’s when Mandy Moore’s character is introduced, who is a quiet and shy girl, who is completely opposite to Shanes character. This creates tensions in the love story, due to the opposites attracting. The establishing of the characters at the start allows the audience to identify who the main characters will be.

After there is an establishing scene where the two main characters are sitting next to each other on the bus interacting. On the journey Shane’s characters askes Mandy’s character, ‘Don’t you care about what other people care about you’ she replied with a straight answer of, ‘No’. This establishes the difference between the characters to the audience.

The interaction continues as Landon askes Jamie to help him with his studies. This begins their love story with loads of two shots, which allows the audience to visualise them together. However they are still keeping distance as Landon cannot be seen with her due to his popularity. This is a hint of disruption in the narrative. In every romance drama trailer I have seen, there is always someone who hints the distruption. I personally will use this in my trailer as it is effective and following the codes of a romance drama. With the shot of both characters walking down a corridor however not glancing at each other, gives the audience another sneak peek into the disruption appearing.

There are two shots of where the two characters are getting along, which reminds the audience how much limited time he spends with her and in such a quick time they have got feelings for each other.

Then the disruption occurs when Landon’s friend start asking where has he been. This is showing his side of the story. There’s a scene where Jamie’s character talks to Landon in front of his friends saying, she shall meet him after school. He replies very rudely to her, which makes him think how he has changed when spending time with someone is opposite. This is the recognition of the Todrov’s theory. Then there’s an interaction with Landon with one of his friend who states he has changed. This is a convention in a romance drama, where the best friend recognises the problem and informs one of the love interests. After there is another disruption, where Landon wants to keep their relationship on the low, this creates an issue.  Then on we see scenes of where Landon’s life has changed due to Jamies absents.  I personally believe that it is very important to show the audience what life’s like for an instant without the love. This allows the audience to also ‘want’ the relationship back as much as the two love interests. Also I have recognised after the disruption has occurred and where the repairing stage occurs, the male love interest is in a violent fight with other characters which express their emotion and unhappiness. Audience feel on edge when they witness this tense scene. There are many scenes following where the repair of the disruption occurs. In the duration there are statements and rhetorical questions onscreen. This allows the audience to be active rather than passive. However at the end of trailer, there are scenes where the happiness of the love in featured. This reminds the audience their love is what the film is about and will always be about. After that the name of the film is featured. It reminds audiences that Mandy Moore has written songs which feature in the film. This may also attract other audience members who are music fans.

Overall compared to The Vow trailer, A Walk To Remember trailer was a very poor trailer. However have major romance drama conventions to follow such as, the narrative of Todorov’s theory. The use of Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition and Repair throughout the film creates the structure of a film trailer. I will use this structure in my trailer as I have seen this structure over a vast majority of film trailers, which creates good effect. 

Film Trailer Analysis #1- The Vow

The Vow-

I watched The Vow trailer, I personally thought it was an amazing trailer and from personal experience, when I first saw the trailer, it which made me go see the film. After I watched the trailer again I analysed it. These are my findings.

At the start it establishes the love in the love interests.  It’s funny, sweet and romantic. As Channing and Rachael characters are driving in the snow, a ‘Meatloaf’ song is playing, which Channing is singing madly to, which makes Rachel’s character chuckle as he has bad taste in music. Then there’s the problem/ impacts where there’s quick shots of their marriage and their beginning of their love, which was shot in flashes, which represents heartfelt moments. There’s a monologue of Channing character, which helps the audience feel and fully understand what the character is going through. After that there’s a slow duration panning shot, which established the problem of Rachel’s character, by her loss of memory and the lost relationship with Channing’s character. There are no fancy shots or transitions from shot to shot. It’s just straight cuts which allow the audience to feel the tension in these scenes. All this has happened in 51 seconds of the trailer, so my aim to establish the problem before the first minute is over.

Then there’s writing and a enigma question, ‘What if 5 years of your life disappeared?’  This poses questions to the audience and makes them think in the shoes of the characters. The plain black writing and non-fancy font allows the audience to feel that this is a serious issue. Also the use of the dull yet yellowy, green background shows that this part of the film will be dull, which connotates the problem being dull. The word ‘DISAPPEAED?’ appears in white, this connotates the reality of the issue also connotates the actual word disappeared of her relationship with her love interest.

Then after this shot, there’s pictures of the pain in the lovers, with quick cuts and quick fades which allows the audience to understand how the characters are feeling. It also shows how one of the lovers is trying to recover the forgotten love. Then there’s a funny moment in-between where Channing’s character is walking naked into his room, where Rachel’s character half naked. This allows the institutions to reinforce the purpose of the film in the minds of the audience as being a romance, drama, where romance has moments of fun.

 Then there’s a fact which appears, stating it is, Inspired by true events. This allows some audience members especially me to fully care for the characters as this has happened to someone in reality. As Channing and Rachel are trying to establish the issue, Rachel creates another issue with ‘thinking’ she still has feelings for her ex. This is another problem which has crept up, which allows more drama to be introduced into the film. Then there’s hope of reconnecting the love which has been forgotten, by having in the narrative of Channing’s character re asking his ‘wife’ for a date. In the duration of that shot, there are flashbacks of how the characters first met in the start of the film. Then there is another funny moment where they are about to go on a date and where Rachel states, she needs to be back before 10 in the morning. As Channing’s character replies, ‘first date and you already wanna stay the night?!’

After that moment, there’s the same background and same writing of when the film will be released. This allows the audience to take in and kind of organise themselves of when to watch the film.

After that shot, there’s Channing’s monologue alongside shots of the love interests being happy, for example when their characters first meeting spot and the car journeys together. Then the institution establishes the characters with scenes from the film of both characters stating which previous romance drama films they had been in. This allows the audience to regain and remember (mind the pun) who the actors are from previous romance drama films. These shots are used as fades in and out to show their relationship and to show the actual flow of the film.

 Then there are repeats of the problem with other characters getting involved with the issue, for example where Jessica Lange who plays Rachel’s mother in the film states, Paige (Rachel) won’t remember her relationship with Leo (Channing) love. There’s the impact moments where the audience gasps, which allows the audience members to feel active in the trailer rather than passive throughout.

Then there are back and forth shots of happiness and sadness when the problem is again shown. This again reminds the audience that this film is like a roller-coaster. It will rise when happiness is shown then it will dip when there is sadness. This is a convention of a romance drama trailer.

After there is on screen writing, ‘will love find a second chance?’ with the characters being happy in the background. This is an enigma question which allows the audience to think as the characters and as themselves.

 Lastly there’s shots again of happiness and sadness, which then allows the name of the film to pop up. At the end there are all the credits of the institutions names and the releases date of the film. The end is where the audience are left with thoughts and emotion. I would like to create that impact at the end of my trailer to my audience and make them feel, they would want to watch my film.

Overall I think The Vow trailer will be a major impact on my trailer. The way at the end of the trailer, the binary opposition of the happy scenes and tense scenes most definitely impact the audience by making them go through a emotional rollercoaster. This allows the audience to be active in the duration of the trailer and always on edge.

Also there are two scores, one which is acoustic when the problem is introduced then there’s a soundtrack of Taylor Swifts- Enchanted http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrRlUwaOHfM when the problem is trying to be rectified.  I particularly think the use of the acoustics allows the tension to be seen through the drama without any lyrics. The soundtrack of Taylors song, allows the audience to feel a sense of recovery and hope of the romance drama story. I would like to use an acoustic song in my drama and somehow change the song in the duration of the film trailer, like how The Vow trailer have done.

Lastly the use of the enigma questions was used effectively to allow the audience to be in the place of the characters. I would like to use some questions effectively like ‘The Vow’ has, however I don’t want it to be non-effective as it could just be a pointless question. So I am debating on the use of the questions.

Interviews- Primary Research

This is my 3rd Primary Research interviews.
I have conducted four interviews, one of a couple then two interviews with my target audience of females, then one with a male.
This is their take on film trailers I videoed them all and here are the links to them all on my You Tube channel...
Couple
 For the couple primary research task I also took notes and analysed what should be included in my trailer. I got from the interview that I need a realistic narrative which makes the audience believe what they are watching and make them question reality with the disruption occurring in real life. Also I need to have sad, funny and happy moments which again creates different kinds of moods for the audience to feel. Lastly I should be using bright colours when there's a happy scene, then when there's a sad scene use dark and dull colours to connotate the mood also use a lot of red as it connotates love.

Meera & Karisma 
For Meera & Karisma primary research I have noted down that, the quotes are very important in the trailer as this allows the audience to be active rather than passive whilst watching the trailer for the first time. As Karisma said, I need enigma questions. I will most definitely use enigma questions as this will impact my audience in a good way for them to be active. Also the narrative should be attracting the audience as this will be the main reason the audience would want to see my film. I need that effect on the audience for my trailer to become a success.
I asked the girls what I need to have as an essential in my trailer, I got this response...
I need to have the two love interest have happy, romance scenes throughout the trailer however also show the disruption from Todrov theory to carry the narrative on. Also enigma questions should be included. The female love interests best friend should be involved within the narrative. Lastly colours like red, pink, white, orange and yellow should be used as these are the soft colours of what the romance drama genre should reflect.
From what the girls have said about what I should include in my trailer I will include all of these points as these are the codes and conventions of a romance drama trailer.

Overall I will use these points made from the girls to the couples as they will be my main target audience as I produce this romance trailer.

Krishna 

This is another interview I conducted with a male this time to see whether the answers were different. My hypothesis was that the male interview wouldn't be sure about the romance drama trailers. I stand corrected. Krishna wasn't interested in the romance drama trailers, which made it clear to me that my target audience will be females and couples. However in spite of that, I go some information about the colour scheme I should be using in the trailer. As normal pastel colours like pinks, reds and whites should be used.

Focus Group- Primary Research

I have conducted a focus group to research about trailers. I used 6 of my friends, 2 Male and the rest female  which makes the research non biased.
My aim was to find out what attracts audiences to promotional posters.
I asked these questions...

1. Do you look at promotional posters?
2. Where do you see promotional posters?
3. Name one promotional poster and describe the best features?
4. Have a look at these promotional poster (I showed them The Vow and Dark Knight Rises Poster)
5. What attracts you to each of the posters?
6. If you had to create a promotional poster for a romance drama film, what image would you use and why?
7. What font would you use and why?
8. What colours would you use and why?

This would give me views on other peoples ideas and what they would use and why, so I have a variety of ideas on my promotional posters and what will attract them.

I have created a video, this is it via my Youtube channel.
Promotional Poster Focus Group Video

I have found out that my focus group have stated that a successful promotional poster I need to...
Have a good colour scheme used. As I'm doing a romance drama genre trailer, I should be using soft pastel colours. Also i should have characters that the audience will recognize however due to the lack of budget and the lack of contacts I cannot have actors who everyone knows so I cannot follow that advise, however if in the future creating a promotional poster, I will bear that in mind.

Throughout the primary research I found out that my focus group liked the lighting on The Vow promotional poster. This shows the the simplicity of the characters and it also creates a mood for the audience who will be viewing this promotional poster. Also they felt that the main image should be happy as stereotypical the genre is a happy mood. I will use that advise in my promotional poster and create an image for a happy mood.
As font is concerned, they also advised me to use bold, italics as fonts as it will stand out on the promo. They also gave me ideas on some fonts, Elegant, Script, Calbri.
I will have a look on what font I will use and have good reason on why I have used that font.

Questionnaire- Primary research

This is an example of one of my primary research task  from target audiences.
 This was done by a female who was 16 which is verified via the questionnaire. This allows me to take into account the target audiences preferences and ideas. I conducted 10 questionnaires, this is an example by a female. 
Half the questionnaires were conducted by females, they all suggest that  the main image stands out on a front cover.This attracts them to magazine cover. This means for my magazine cover the image is vital and should  attracted my audience when seeing the cover. Also I found out that colours used are very important with text and text boxes on the cover as it should relate to the love interest on the cover. Colours like pinks, whites and red should be used as it connotates love.  I will take all this information into consideration whilst conducting my magazine and I feel I will use soft colours and make sure the image is eye catching. 



This is my analysis of my questionnaire answer.

Overall the questionnaire was a success as this showed me what i need my magazine cover to be like. From the 10 questionnaires, I found out that the image is the main factor which attracts readers to the magazine, which means that my image should reflect what my film/ trailer is about. As it is about romance and drama, I

should include the actors as in a happy mood which would reflect my movie properly.  With colours, mostly the questionnaires said to use reds, whites, pinks, yellows and any other bright colours as this should again reflect the mood of the film. I will be using the colours as this represent my films properly. As I asked the question on what image I should use, I mostly got the two love interests and they should be close together as this expresses the love in the trailer. Lastly I asked what the background should be on the main image. Many people have stated a plain white background, also a pink or blue background. However I got two different suggestions with a beach and a countryside setting as the one shown above in the example. I think that will be an answer which will be kept till last as I want the image to be perfect and give the right image and be following the right codes and convention for a magazine cover. I personally think a plain background will be

good however I will be debating on it.



Sharing ideas with out peers

In Lesson we conducted a mood board which shows the depth of my ideas for my whole project. The first 2 pages are my own notes

After that we went into groups of 4 to discuss and share our own ideas and hear other people’s ideas and give them constructive criticism.

The 3rd page are my notes that I took down. Also at the bottom of this page is my criticism that I received...

Codes and Convention for a Romance Drama

Codes and Conventions  

The codes and conventions in media can be separated into 3 distinct groups -
- Technical (camera techniques & shots),
- Symbolic (ie clothing, colours)
- Written and audio (music etc).

I will be doing a hybrid genre: Romance and Drama. Here are some examples of some Romance Drama films...

Examples of Romance, Drama

1.       Titanic

2.       The Vow

3.       Dear John

4.       The Notebook

5.       The Bodyguard

6.       Veer Zara( Bollywood)

7.       The Last Song

8.       Kal Ho Na Ho(Bollywood)

9.       Fashion (Bollywood)

10.   P.S I Love You

11.   Remember Me

12.   The Reader

In a Romantic Drama genre film, there are many codes and conventions which are used throughout the films. I will be discussing the conventions in this particular genre, for example...

You normally see love interests which are heterosexual, for example The Vow, Dear John and Titanic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcL24s-S6ns  this is trailer for The Vow which shows who the love is between, for instance it’s between Channing Tatums character and Rachel McAdams characters Paige and Leo.

Another convention you see is that the non digetic scores are very soft and gentle as it reflect the mood of the film. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8udgmZMrnQY is the trailer for a Romance Drama Bollywood film ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’. The score is firstly heard as a heartbeat as it represents the starting character of Shahrukh Khan, as he is suffering from a heart condition, it can also represent that when in love your heart beats fast. After the heartbeat score, there’s the non digetic theme to the film which again represents the highs and lows of the film as it’s a film which surely will make the audience in the films mood.

There’s symbolic codes and conventions in trailers, for example in Dear John’s trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0fq5dd0C60 , when John and Savannahs love is portrayed at the very start, there’s simple, gentle colours used, such as soft pinks, baby blues and the nudity of skin can portray the love throughout the film which shows their purity and their simplicity.

Another convention used in a romance drama film is the technical areas such as the camera work.

There normally loads of cuts and fades in and out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3G3fILPQAU this is the trailer to The Notebook, which uses loads of fades. This shows that the use of fades represents the love is like heaven which is shown in the film. Without the quick cuts, its more smoother which romance films should be.  Love is connotated as happy, smooth, soft and gentle. However the trailer to The Vow, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcL24s-S6ns uses cuts as camera work. This is used to show the element of drama. With the quick cuts, it shows how the film is full of drama.

Also a major factor in the Romance drama trailers is the whole narrative of the trailer. There is normally a narrative structure used... I watched the trailer for the Vow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcL24s-S6ns and the trailer for The Lucky One http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=58oZRymxvgk and I noted down these checkpoints throughout the trailers...

1.       Establishing character also an equilibrium

2.       There’s a disruption

3.       recognition

4.       Trying to repair

5.       Quick cuts of past love 

6.       Last few shots of love the problem, which flips back and forth between the past love and the disruption.

Todorov’s theory can be applied, however the back and forth of the love before the disruption is very key as it reminds the audience that their love will be shown through the film also it’s like a reminder that this is how innocent their love was before the problem occurred. 

Overall with all this research of codes and conventions of romance, drama film, i personally feel that I will most definitely use Todorov’s theory in my trailer, also I will use both cuts and fades in my trailer to show the romance and drama content in my trailer. Lastly I will try to use non digetic sounds to portray the love through my trailer to the audience. 

Empire- Magazine Analysis

June 2011 Edition

Colour is very significant on magazine covers, on this Empire issue, the masthead for Empire is in block letters and blood shock red. Normally the Empire is red however sometimes can change according to the main image on the front. As this current copy of Empire has Daniel Craig who is currently starring in the new James Bond film, ‘SkyFall’. The red connotates the blood shed in the films, however another connotation can be drawn with the love and lust in the 007 films with the Bond girls. Also red is used with the main titles of the main articles; the text box is filled with red. This could connotate James Bonds missions. With every single film, 007 always kills more than once, with the boxes being ‘filled’ with red, could connotate the blood/ lives filling up for a mission, once the box is filled, the mission is completed.

 The use of black runs through the cover always. The ideology of always seeing James Bond in a suit is running through this cover. With the black and white font being used, it acts as a metaphor to 007’s tuxes. Another connotation can be even simpler, by showing bonds true colours. With Empire not using any bright colours or any secondary colours, this shows that Bond is very undetected and dirty with the work he does as he does have a ‘Licence to kill’. With black and white films being the start of the film industry, this could also connotate Bond with being very old school with the techniques of his killing with, knifes, guns and gadgets.

Font is very important for a magazine as it’s necessary for the readers to read what the magazine is implying. It’s very important that the readers are recognising the synergy that Empire use, for example the bold masthead which stands out on the magazines cover also the synergy used , coordinates with the main articles in the magazine issue. With Empire’s masthead being in the ideal area, gives the front cover a dominant factor. Another font factor is the main articles font, ‘SkyFall’, it’s in italics. These can connotate that this article is different from the other articles in the magazine. It can also show that the film will be unique too. As it’s in bold , it makes a statement as it’s the second biggest font on the front cover, which implies the films importance on the cover.  The cover lines are in different fonts and aren’t in bold, which divides the main articles to the other articles in the magazine. As the font size is small, it shows that the other articles aren’t mainly based around this issue of Empire, however are also important. On this month’s issue of Empire, there is a strap line, ‘Nobody does it better’. This can be connected with Empire, being the greatest and best film magazine ever or it can connotate with the main article of Daniel Craig’s portrayal of Bond. With the statement, ‘nobody does it better’ may be comparing Craig’s portrayal to the previous Bonds, who are also featured on the cover. The font is very simple and again readable. In normal situations a normal reader, automatically reads the top of the magazine to recover the name of the magazine.  Empire has places such a bold strap line at the top of the magazine to ensure their readers are questioned with this particular issue.  

Also the use of the original 007 sign is used on the cover. Again this shows that the cover is using the logo to attract the Bond movie lovers to this particular issue of Empire.

Towards the lower part of the cover, it shows the previous Bond actors. How Italics bend font can suggest that the previous Bond actors are no more. With the ideology of death, people tend to fall sideways as they have no control over their body anymore. This can suggest the same with the font and with the decease of the older Bond actors. Lastly all of the cover lines fonts are the same as the ‘Empire’ font. The use of synergy allows the readers to familiarise themselves with the cover and Empire’s work. The benefit of this in any future issues of Empire, the readers are familiarised with the font and if the main image shields the magazines name, the readers can recognise that this is an Empire magazine.

Image is very important for the cover of any magazine as it attracts and influences the readers to the particular issue. The Two Step Flow model applies as the main model in the image is opinion leader who then influences the readers to buy the particular issue . Empire has placed Daniel Craig on the front ,allowing the Bond lovers to purchase the magazine. Apart from 007 film lovers, other readers can be attracted like females who think Daniel Craig is a bit of eye candy or even other male readers who respect Craig. Overall the main image has major factors over the reader’s choice of purchasing the magazine. As the main image is in the centre of the magazine, this suggests that the whole issue is revolving around the main images. It states the importance of a main image on the front cover. Empire has created a unique yet brilliant effect with the two gunshots through the front cover glass effect. With the stereotypical  gunshots at the start of every bond film creates a familiar environment for the reader of Empire and makes the reader feel that this issue is surrounding 007 for 100%.

With there are normally smaller photos on a front, in this case there are seven smaller images. With five smaller images of the previous Bond actors, this shows the previous Bonds actors. With the images laid out next to one another, can portray a Hall of Fame of Bond actors or even a tribute. With all Bond actors wearing the stereotypical attire of a tux or smart black and white suit can show the reader, that Empire are fully engrossed with the whole 007 dominance on this issue.  Lastly the other smaller images are on the front cover next to the main image. This shows the readers what else is in this issue. The smaller images are used for current film reviews and upcoming films. This is effective as white space is filled and makes the front cover less wordy.

Readers don’t want any change of the layout on the front covers as ideally readers check the top of the magazine to see the magazines names. As this issue of Empire fits the stereotype as the masthead it at the top which shows dominance on the front of the magazine. The main cover line is in its normal situation which is under the main  image and again in the centre. This again allows the readers be comfortable when purchasing the copy of a magazine. With the cover line of ‘SkyFall’ being in the centre allows the reader to gain little information about the main article. The barcode is in its normal area as its not interfering with any part of the front cover. Overall the layout is very simple yet very dominant as the main image proves a ‘purchase’ factor to the reader. I personally feel that front covers shouldn’t be dramatic as a dominant image and few cover lines would suffice in a brilliant front cover.

Language is very important to a magazines front cover as it is suppose to be very simple and get straight to the point. This Empires issue has few words on it as the images speak louder. Alliteration is used on the front cover as main cover lines. The words ‘Bond. Back in Business’ attracts readers into the magazine as it’s a questions statement, which makes the reader think about how Bond is back in business. Also the use of short and snappy slogans like ‘The Verdict!’ for Avengers allows the audience to know what the article will be about without beating around the bush. Overall the language on the front cover is very simple as it allows the readers to know what the articles about without too many words.

Overall in this analysis of Empire’s Front cover, I have decided to use fewer words on the front as the main image will be dominant. Also the font of the masthead should be the same as the cover lines, which allows the readers to become fond of the atmosphere of the magazine and should be readable and nothing to fancy. Lastly colours should represent the main image. As this issue was about James Bond, mostly red, black and white were used, as they are connotate in many ways which implies with Bond. How my film genre is romance drama I feel that I should use soft and delicate colours to represent the love of the characters.