Poster Analysis - Marvel's Avengers Assemble

The poster for 'Marvel's Avengers Assemble' demonstrates admirable skill in overcoming the difficulties of displaying a large lead cast effectively. It obviously had to include all of the Avengers in it, as that is the main feature of the film, however to fit all of the characters into one poster as well as hinting about the storyline is difficult. When faces with this scenario, most films opt for the classic approach of putting one characters' head on top of another in a sort of human pyramid, as with the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars' posters. However these often leave no room to hint at the plot and just end up being a bundle of heads without much else. Contrariwise, this poster displays a large cast and still manages to include a lot going on in the background. The arrangement of the characters is also different from the usual approach as they are spread out more and size is played around with. If the placement of each character is examined carefully, then this could be applied to my own work.

At the front of the poster stands Iron Man. He is the first person that the viewer would see in the poster, as it would generally be seen left to right, and the biggest character jumps off the poster first. His extended arm gives the poster a 3D feel to it and seems to almost be reaching out towards the viewer, dragging them into the poster. Iron Man is effectively used to pull in the audience, as seen through this pose. He was probably chosen as Robert Downey Jr is arguably one of the most well known leading characters in the film. Samuel L Jackson is probably equally well known, but his character doesn't look as dramatic as Robert Downey Jr's and he also doesn't play as big a role in the film. Following this Iron Man was the obvious choice to be at the helm of the poster.

To the right of Iron Man is the second most obvious character in the poster - Thor. Thor occupies an important area of the poster, as he seems to almost bookend it and stop the viewer looking any further to the right. His pose almost seems to be stopping the viewer looking away or any further in that direction and holds their gaze on the poster. The actor, Chris Hemsworth, also has a significant following of young ladies who think that he is very good-looking, so he would also draw in a female audience. He also draws the attention of the audience because, after Iron Man, he is probably the most impressive looking of the characters. Captain America could not be put here because he does not appeal so much to an international audience and the Hulk is too big. Thor therefore seems the obvious choice, and after Iron Man has drawn the audience in, Thor holds their gaze and also bounces their gaze back into the poster by occupying the space to the far left of the poster.

Hulk was probably a lot more difficult to place in the poster. The producers would want him to be noticeable as he is an iconic character and would draw in a large fanbase. He is also a very impressive looking character that could draw attention to the poster. The problem is that he is a very large character, and if he were placed at the front of the poster then all the other characters would have to be very small to allow for the proportions to be correct. To overcome this he is put in the top right corner of the poster and looks as though he is preparing for a fight. His ready-for-action pose draws the viewers attention, and it makes the film look action-packed and exciting, as though the characters were constantly on the move. His placement in the poster is made easier by the decision to put the characters in a city that is under attack. This means that Hulk does not look out of place by being ready for action, but the poster looks almost as if it were taken straight from the movie.

Below the Hulk is Hawkeye, who seems to bookend the left hand side of the poster. He too seems ready for action and again makes the film look exciting and action packed. His pose also suggests that there are some sort of antagonistic forces at work outside the poster, giving it a 3D element. It makes the poster seem to come to live a lot more. Below Iron Man's arm are Nick Fury and Black Widow. Black Widow is the only character that seems to be moving forward, so her pose adds more action to the poster and makes it seem less static. Nick Fury is very cleverly slotted in behind her, but looking around her. Despite the lack of space for his character, the pose manages to fit around it perfectly; fitting underneath Iron Man's arm and around Black Widow. Last of all is Captain America who is neatly standing on a piece of rubble that elevates him to a height that he can be seen from. Using the location to get around the difficulty of fitting him in is a stroke of genius, and it is very well pulled off.

Behind all of this is New York City, distinguishable through the iconic Empire State Building. There are some sort of spaceships in the background and some of the buildings are blowing up. This allows the poster to hint at elements of the storyline - establishing that the film is about a fight that takes place in New York. The background stops the poster becoming just about characters and points to an even bigger storyline. It keeps the poster alive and full of action, which is exactly what the target audience wants to see.

Trailer Analysis - Marvel's Avengers Assemble

The Avengers was a hugely successful film, that has become the third highest grossing film of all time. Part of this must, of course, have been to do with the successful trailer that was made, and therefore I have chosen to analyse it. I particularly like the first few seconds of the trailer that grab the attention of the audience immediately with the low bass notes, screaming crowds, and a little later on the line 'War has started'. This is a strange choice, as the scenes shown in this opening do not actually occur until the end of the film, so in a way the trailer is showing the film in non-chronological order and telling the storyline in a different order to the actual film. However, this is also a very clever choice to make, as starting it with a sequence that is obviously action-packed and exciting makes the whole film seem like a non-stop thrill ride. It is clearly, and rightfully, aimed at a male audience between the ages of about 12 and 35, so to entice this audience the trailer relies heavily on the stereotype of men wanting to watch action films. Not only does the opening shot entice this audience through the action, but it also makes the film look like it has a high production value (which it does), so the audience knows that they wouldn't be wasting their money on a cheap amateur film. Any sort of helicopter or birds-eye shot always increases the production value of a film, and here it is no different. However for our trailer it will be very difficult to get a shot that looks like this as we obviously don't have access to any cranes or helicopters. We will have to try and improvise something and trick the audience into thinking that it is a high budget shot. Also increasing the production value of the opening sequence is the voice of Samuel L Jackson performing the voice-over.  He is an extremely famous and well-respected Hollywood actor, so simply by having him in the film the production value is dramatically increased.

Part of the challenge of making this trailer, I'd imagine, would be introducing all the characters and their role in the story. All of the Avengers have to be introduced and have sufficient screen time, as well as the antagonist and the general storyline. Then all these various elements have to be pulled together to make a dramatic ending. To do all of this, the structure of the trailer is vital, so I'm going to pull the structure apart and see how it was done.
First the trailer establishes the conflict, stating that 'We are at war', perhaps hinting that earth is at war with an extra-terrestrial power by showing the explosives falling from the sky. It then brings in the Avengers through the lines 'and we are hopelessly outgunned' (indicating that he will have to go to someone else for help) and 'Director Fury, I think it's time'.
The Avengers are then introduced in a very specific order, so that the storyline can be hinted at through the introductions. Captain America is first, to introduce the most normal looking of the Avengers and slowly pull the audience in; they are not waiting to see Captain America as he is the least exciting visually, so the trailer introduces him first in order to keep the audience watching. The Hulk is introduced next, and when he is introduced in human form quick flashes of the CGI hulk appear so that the audience know who he is, as this is the first time that that actor played him. Next is Thor, and here the storyline begins to sink in more as he asks 'What are you asking me to do?' to which the reply is 'It's called the Avenger's initiative'. This shows the audience what the 'Avengers' are for anyone who doesn't know, and makes the title more memorable. If the audience didn't know that the team was called the Avengers then they'd struggle to remember the title. Last of all is Iron Man, possibly because he is portrayed by the most well known and established of the actors: Robert Downey Jr. He is also introduced last because his line 'Apparently I'm, what is it? Volatile, self-obsessed and don't play well with others' leads on to the next shots of Iron Man and Thor fighting, followed by a shot of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America together in the place where they were fighting. This brings almost all of the introductions round so that all are introduced and then are shown altogether. Hulk isn't shown for the simple reason that he wasn't in the scene in the film.
Following these introductions the trailer also has to establish the antagonist and the what left of the storyline there is to explain. The antagonist is shown next, after a brief interlude of explosions, following on from the introductions of the Avengers. The dialogue is carried on almost like a conversation; Loki's line 'How desperate are you? That you call on such lost creatures to defend you.' carries on perfectly from the introductions. Samuel L Jackson's reply 'You have made me very desperate' then establishes that the previous speaker was the antagonist, and the following few shots also show this. The remainder of the trailer is left for action shots and the exciting climax. The storyline is then established: Earth is at war with Loki, so the Avengers are called upon to stop the chaos. What seems to be the key linking feature between these aspects is the dialogue. Each part is linked to the next through a line that both comments on the previous scene and the next, bringing them together and moving the trailer forward. The Avengers' is either very lucky or very clever to have strong linking lines at their disposal. For us, however, we don't need to work through an entire film to work out which linking lines would work best, instead we simply need to create our own lines that link together the sections. This trailer has shown me an excellent way to link together aspects of a story in a trailer.

Overall I think that analysis of this trailer has been pivotal in increasing my understanding of how to structure a trailer and I think that it will be extremely useful in working out how to bring all the pieces together. Also, as discovered before but reconfirmed here, I know now that I need to think very carefully about how to start a trailer. This trailer has opened up new ways in which I can start a trailer; they don't have to start at the beginning of a film, but they can even start towards the end. In a way this makes them stronger as the audience wonders how the storyline got to where it was at the end. I will certainly bear this trailer in mind when making my own.

Trailer Analysis - 127 Hours

After analysing the poster for the film '127 Hours' I decided to analyse the trailer of the same film, as I was so impressed by the advertising skill displayed in the poster. The first half of the trailer is dominated by the pumping music and for the most part it is led by this beat guiding the timing of every shot. It is a fast-paced, exciting start to the trailer and immediately grabs the audience's attention. It is also very easy to watch and almost satisfying as the shots appear perfectly timed to the beats of the music. In particular I like the split screens that appear as the music plays, as they make the start of the trailer more fun, as well as showcasing the inventive and technical prowess of the film. Making the start of the trailer more fast and upbeat makes the ending of the trailer more dramatic and horrifying when it comes. This is exactly the sort of effect that the director wants; he wants the audience to experience the same shock that the protagonist feels when falling into the canyon. In doing this, the director is making the audience connect more with the character and feel almost as if they are in his shoes, which makes them want to see what happens to him in the end, making them want to see the film. It seems to be a pattern in a number of trailers that the film makers try to establish relationships with the audience so that they connect with the film and therefore want to finish it. Another effect that this shock has is that the audience thinks that the film is unpredictable and will surprise them at every turn. This attracts a very wide audience who want to be surprised in films and want to see more than just the usual predictable films that come out of Hollywood.

The trailer seems to try to grab it's audience through the introduction of a character, more than introducing a storyline or themes. Where many trailers would do fast-paced sequences towards the end, the trailer for '127 Hours' shows instead the character struggle and the emotions that he is going through. The pace of editing does increase towards the end, but this is more to do with trying to condense longer scenes into shorter ones, such as the small sequence when he tries to pick up his knife from the floor of the canyon. Although there are many shots in this, they are mainly to show how he did it in a short time frame. There are two moments when the editing increases pace, which is in order to thrill the audience, but these are only small moments that back up the slower editing and support the music. Significantly the final shot is a slow shot of just his face over the boulder and his eyes tearing up, showing that the trailer is definitely trying to portray the film as a character drama. By making it into a character drama the trailer is trying to connect to the audience and their human emotions. There are many parts in the trailer that the audience would connect to, such as when he talks about how he never appreciated his mum and dad as much as he should have done. Themes like these are universal, and carry the film's message across the globe, giving it a huge audience. Where the trailer for 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' worked well in grabbing a British audience, '127 Hours' works because it is able to connect to many people around the world.

Another important aspect of the trailer is that it uses it's critical acclaim to it's advantage - a technique that is used in the advertisement of many acclaimed films. Here it bombards the audience with a huge amount of awards, nominations and film festival successes. Within the first ten seconds of the trailer it notifies the audience that the film has met success at three of the major film festivals. In establishing this at the start the audience knows that they are watching the trailer to a very well acclaimed film, and start it with a positive mindset. The audience can easily be won over or lost in the first few seconds, but by telling them of all the success the film has met elsewhere it is winning most of the audience over straight away. It also works on the concept of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs by appealing to the need for esteem, which claims that people have the need to be respected by others. Many people would see that the film has been critically acclaimed, so in order to prove that they have good film tastes they go and see it. They gain respect for their sophisticated taste in films. In a similar way the trailer also appeals to the need for love/belonging by establishing a relationship with the protagonist, as discussed in the previous paragraph. The final part of the trailer is set to inspirational music and the final lines 'Don't give up and do not give up' appeal to the need for self actualisation, by showing the strength of character of someone in a crisis. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is all over this trailer, and it has clearly been a big influence on it. For our trailer we should investigate further into how these needs can be incorporated in order to make our trailer even more effective.
The ending of the trailer is also littered with positive reviews from acclaimed sources, complimenting all different aspects of the film's merits. After every few shots it compliments a particular aspect which leads the audience to watch out for that aspect in the next few shots. So when it compliments the acting of James Franco, the audience then looks at his acting in the next few shots (where shots showcasing his acting are chosen) and agrees with the reviewer, adding to the reasons to watch the film. By the end of the trailer the audience has found so many reasons to go and see the film that they almost feel like they have to see it or they are missing out on a cinematic landmark.

There are so many positive attributes to this trailer that I can apply to my own. In particular I think I need to focus for a while on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and see where it can be applied to my own work. This trailer demonstrates effective exploitation of several of the needs, and it would work in my favour if I were to try and achieve the same thing. I also need to start thinking about establishing a relationship between the film and the audience, so that audience's want to see it to see what happens to the characters. I should at least make a subtle nod towards the audience, as in the trailer for 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', but after seeing this trailer I have learnt that it is almost essential that the audience feel involved and as if they are part of the drama. Appealing to the emotions of the audience, as in this trailer, is also a very good tactic, and one that I am sure to try and use in my own trailer.

Poster Analysis - 127 Hours

This is the poster for the Danny Boyle film '127 Hours', it is fairly simple in it's design, but at the same time is original, memorable and effective. One of the interesting features of this poster is that it doesn't actually reveal much or any of the storyline or what the film is about. A person looking at the poster would, at first be clueless as to what the film is about. In this way I think that the poster more serves as a way of pointing the viewer to the trailer or to find out more, as the poster certainly makes the viewer want to find out what it is about. It makes them want to know this because of the headline at the top that says 'A Triumphant True Story' which naturally would make anyone curious as to what story it is telling. The film is made so much more exciting when the audience knows that it's a true story, as it makes everything seem more dramatic that it actually happened. However the viewer of the poster isn't watching the film, so they have to be blown away that something actually happened from what they can see on the poster. This is surely done by the picture of the man balancing between two rocks which are dramatically separated at the bottom. The audience will be amazed by the incredible feat that the man is trying to accomplish and their amazement is heightened by the fact that it is a true story. Of course the poster is exaggerating reality, and the chasm doesn't look that dramatic in the film or real life,  but the reality is that the chasm wouldn't look nearly as impressive if the viewer were to see the actual one. Posters depend heavily upon one picture to sell the entire film, so the exaggeration is vital. It also adds to what the director wants the feel of the film to be; he could have decided to evoke the feel as a claustrophobic bottle drama which could have worked and appealed to a large audience, but instead he choses this exaggeration in order to present it as a 'Triumphant' human achievement. It is quite hard to sell a man cutting his arm off in this way, so it leaves out that part and instead focusses on an almost 'feel-good' type of film, which seems odd, but feel-good films tend to sell a lot better than bottle dramas.

The colours in this poster are what are so striking about it. The colours seem to split the poster into two genres rather than one, with the top half selling it as a feel-good, 'triumphant' achievement, and the bottom half  selling it as a thrilling, dangerous adventure. This is done with the most obvious colours available; light blue for happiness and red for danger, however it is shown a lot more subtly on the poster through the use of a bright sky and a sunrise/set. By using these, not only does it sell the effect in a subtle way, but it also gets across the strong role that nature plays in the film. Both halves have taglines relating to their respecting genres, with the top half selling a 'Triumphant True Story' and the bottom half saying 'Every Second Counts'. Under this intense scrutiny, the poster's techniques become blatantly obvious, however the casual viewer would not immediately pick up on these things, instead they see the film as what they want to see it as. Better still, the film sells itself admirably to the tastes of couples; stereotypically women prefer feel-good films, whilst men prefer thrillers, making this film a suitable compromise. This isn't the reality, however, as the stereotypical woman wouldn't want to see a man's arm being cut open, but the poster doesn't include this part in order to open itself up to this audience. In a way the poster is powerful for what it leaves out, rather than what it includes. Not many people would chose to see the film if it was advertised about how he was going to attempt to escape, whereas it would gain a large audience if it was advertised as his great escape from the forces of nature.

As with the poster for 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', this poster uses the famous people employed to work on this film as unique selling points. These are Danny Boyle and James Franco. Danny Boyle has previously won an Oscar for his film 'Slumdog Millionaire', so this is put at the top of the poster. Although it doesn't actually say 'A film by Danny Boyle', it does say 'From the Academy Award Winning Director of Slumdog Millionaire. Many people recognise names of films before names of directors, and so the name Slumdog Millionaire is much more likely to be memorable to a wider audience as it won Best Picture a few years ago. This makes people want to go and see the film because they assume that it also will be good because it's by people who have already proved themselves in film making. The name 'James Franco' appears just above the title - another obvious place to put a name, as once the viewer has read the title, the next thing they see are the things around it, so they would then read the name. James Franco has starred in a number of  famous films, and so he will have built up his own fan club, who would go and see a film purely because he is in it. This is a very good place to be when advertising a film, because they already have a guaranteed audience. Unfortunately we do not have any famous names that we can put on a film poster, so we need to bear in mind that we need to make our poster strong in other ways in order to compete with posters such as this.

In conclusion I think that this is a very powerful poster that sells a difficult product well. It's use of colours is certainly something that we can take inspiration from when making our poster and we need to bear in mind the various different connotations that different colours can have. As I've seen with the 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' poster there should be strong taglines that draw the audience in, but from here I can see that the taglines do not have to be similar, but rather they are more powerful when they are different, as they are able to appeal to a wider audience, and the poster can advertise the film to many different groups.

Trailer Analysis - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

This trailer for 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' is one of my favourite trailers of all time, and I think that the trailer actually outmatched the film. Despite being very short for a theatrical trailer, it does an excellent job of evoking the mood and hinting at the plot. The plot is very easily established through just two lines: 'There's a mole right at the top of the service, he's been there for years' and 'Moscow's planted a mole, it's one of five men.' Between these two lines a skeleton outline of the plot is established, and there is no need to further explain it - in fact going much beyond those two facts would almost ruin it. This allows three important things. The first is that it leaves much room for thought in the audience's mind, and they are hooked into the mystery of it. By not establishing much of the plot, the trailer itself evokes mystery, like a mystery within a mystery.
The second is that it allows room for the trailer to go pretty much wherever it wants, and show off all the best shots. It is freed from the restraints of most trailers, where the shots have to match the storytelling, meaning they have to use fairly average looking shots. Instead they can choose the best shots and the best one-liners for advertisement.
The third is that it leaves the trailer very open. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film that takes an acquired taste, so if too much plot were to be established then it may not get such a wide audience. The plot sounds fairly sound and would appeal to many people from the synopsis that the trailer gives, and the visuals are also very strong, so on this audience's would go and see it. Anything more may ruin this.

Many enigmas are established, mainly, how it will be resolved and who the mole is. Saying that it is one of five men puts it in the unique position of being an urban mystery with the feel of a rural mystery - urban as it is in the city with high stakes and international consequences, rural because in rural mysteries there are conventionally a limited number of suspects that the audience is examining, turning it into a 'whodunnit' style film. It takes the best elements of both rural and urban mysteries and puts them into one film, which is not only original, but also appeals to a wider audience. It appeals to fans of both genres, and this is set up admirably by just having the line 'it's one of five men.' Another of the enigmas is put directly into the audience's head through the line 'How do you find an enemy who is hidden right before your eyes?'. This is not a spoken line, it appears on screen as text between some of the shots. Although the audience is not thinking directly how they would find an enemy who is hidden right before their eyes, they begin to understand the difficulty and struggle that the protagonist would have to undergo before completing their mission. The reason it asks the audience is so that the trailer directly connects with them, breaking down the fourth wall between the visuals and the audience. It pulls the audience straight into the action and they become more engrossed in the action onscreen. Also it stands out to them a lot more as they think of it as the trailer that talked directly to them, rather than just a series of visuals that appeared on screen. It is just another little way of engaging the audience and pulling them into the action.

Arguably one of the most important aspects of a trailer is the first shot. It is the first part of the trailer that the audience is going to see, and so should grab the attention of the audience straightaway. The best types of trailers are those that, when you've only seen them once before, you know them immediately from the first few seconds when they show at the cinema. The first shot always has a very powerful impact. Here, however, the first shot seems very unconventional and does not seem like the sort of shot that would usually be employed to grab the audience's attention. It is simply of a man's hands turning on a recording device. What is interesting about this is that when a button is clicked on it, the music starts playing, as if it has initiated the music cleverly connecting the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Connecting the diegetic and non-diegetic in the same way connects what happens onscreen with the audience and establishes an important link between the two. From the first shot, the film makers have clocked the audience, which is a very powerful position to be in. It is not done in a cheap way, with an animated slug telling the audience to pay attention, as in one of the trailer's for 'Epic', but is very subtle and hardly noticeable, establishing the film itself as very clever and subtle. In addition to doing this, the opening shot also establishes the era in which the film takes place - the 1970s. This is done through the old fashioned recording device, as well as the 70s style brownish tint to the room. As well as the time period, it also establishes a mysterious mood. Enigmas are  set up immediately, leaving the audience wondering who the man was and why he is recording something. The first of these enigmas is the most prominent, as apart from his hands, all that can be seen of him is a black silhouette. It is a very powerful way to start a trailer - instead of starting it with introducing a protagonist or antagonist, it establishes it with a mysterious figure. From the outset it leaves the audience wondering who to trust, which is the key theme of the entire film. So from the opening shot a connection is established with the audience, a time era is set and the plot line and key themes are set up. There isn't really much else left to establish for the rest of the trailer apart from specifics.

There is so much to learn from this trailer that I could apply to my own, especially the opening shot, which I need to spend some time considering, in order to get perfect. I also need to starting thinking carefully about how I will appeal to my audience through spoken dialogue and written text. There is much more that could be talked about and admired with this trailer, such as the brilliant choice in music,  the use of fades and the construction of shots, but these will be analysed on later trailers.

Poster Analysis - Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy

This is a very interesting film poster for the acclaimed film 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. It is very creative in its design, for the obvious reason that numbers cover the entire poster. This is appropriate for the film, which is about espionage and finding a mole in the British Secret Service, so the numbers represent code and secrecy. Within these numbers is written the line 'the enemy is within' - hinting at the storyline being about a mole in the secret service. The line is hidden inside the character's eye so that it will be easily noticed, but it also hints towards the film being a spy film. This poster would need to be quite large, so that all the small writing can be seen, so I'd imagine it would be used at big display boards such as bus stops, where the people waiting would have time to take in all the detail. It could also potentially be used as a poster that is sold to the general public, as when it is displayed in a room the details would be noticed. By selling posters to the public, the company is not only gaining money from selling posters, but are also getting free advertisement when the buyer puts up the poster in their house. It is a genius method of advertisement, as they are gaining money in many ways, as well as just in the shop where the posters are being sold. Also within the numbers is the word 'winter', indicating the time of year that the film advertised will be released. It is written in red so that it will be noticed amongst the numbers, as it is not in an obvious place and is a short line. 

The other place that the font appears in red is at the bottom of the poster where it says 'Based on the John le Carre classic that redefined the spy thriller' and 'A film by Tomas Alfredson'. There is a lot to fit on the poster, so these lines, although important, have been relegated to the bottom of the poster where they are not as obvious, underneath all the credits. If they were not written in red then the person looking at it may not see it. Both lines are unique selling points, as John le Carre is a very well known and acclaimed writer, whilst Tomas Alfredson is an established director. By using the word 'classic' to describe the book, the poster draws in a wider audience of people who are interested in seeing adaptations of good books. The line also tells the audience directly that the film is a 'spy thriller', but it also says it 'redefined the spy thriller', which leads the audience to believe that there is some sort of twist involved that makes this spy thriller different and more interesting then others. It makes the film stand out from the bulk of Hollywood action films released each year. However at the start of the line it is careful to include the two key words 'based on', which protect the film from claims that the film is distant from the book. The beauty of using these words is that most people won't notice them as being significant and assume the film is an accurate interpretation of the book, whereas the film makers are giving themselves a bit of space by being able to say that is was never falsely advertised.

Perhaps the most unique selling point of the film is the amount of famous actors that star in it, and especially, the amount of famous British actors. Gary Oldman is the central actor on the poster, whilst underneath the title are the names 'Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones and Mark Strong'. Any one of these names is a unique selling point for any film, and would easily boost a film's income. Here they are presented all together, not individually, which makes the focus not on the individual, but the collective cast. A person looking at the poster would be amazed by the amount of famous actors the film was able to employ and the fact that they are all in the same film. Also the fact that they are all British actors draws in a large British audience, of people who have a sense of national pride and want to support British cinema. The film itself has a very British feel about it, so this is not inaccurate advertisement.

Overall I think that this is a very powerful and effective poster. It combines clever visual effects, such as the numbers, to utilising it's strong unique selling points. It comes across as a very clever poster, and as a result would draw in a large audience who would assume it's a clever film. There is a lot that can be learnt from analysing this poster, and for our poster it would be very good if we were to come up with a clever way to present the picture, as this does in numbers. Some posters can be more than just pictures and text.

Trailer Analysis - Life of Pi

'Life of Pi' became a hugely successful film, due to its critical acclaim and success at the Oscars, being nominated for many Oscars including Best Picture. However, even if it wasn't subject to such critical acclaim, the trailer for the film may well have still carried it to success, as it is a very strong trailer. The film itself probably would have been hard to make a strong trailer for, as the basic plotline of the film is that the protagonist is stuck in a boat with a tiger for the majority of the film. The difficulty in making a trailer for this is that it is generally a philosophical film and the beauty of it isn't in exciting action set pieces or sweeping romances like many other films rely on, so it is harder to filter the footage that would make it look exciting. The style of the film also attracts a relatively small demographic, so it would be hard to try and widen this demographic as much as possible through the trailer. Despite this, the trailer was hugely successful and very well put together, so I have chosen to analyse it for research purposes.

One of the main strengths of this trailer lies in the choices of music. There are two pieces of music in it, the first is 'Sæglópur' by Sigur Rós and the second is 'Paradise' by Coldplay. They both play key roles in the success of the trailer. 'Sæglópur', interestingly, actually starts playing before the first visual of the trailer, establishing the mood of the trailer before the visuals have even started. Although only a couple of quick notes are played before the first shot fades in, it still makes the trailer seem calm and laid back - the equilibrium before the disruption. The first shot fading in helps this effect and the overall atmosphere in the first few seconds is very peaceful. 'Sæglópur' sounds both exotic and peaceful, with an uplifting, almost ethereal vocalist making it seem almost heavenly. This supports the vibrant visuals of India, especially as when the vocals start it cuts to a shot of orange candles on a lake - obviously some sort of religious ceremony. The mixture of these visuals and the music works incredibly well in establishing a peaceful atmosphere that makes it even more shocking when that atmosphere is broken. Remarkably, instead of breaking the peace with a heavy, orchestral score, it is broken with no music whatsoever. The boat sinking is simply shown with the sound effects of the storm and the boat which is  certainly effective enough. At one point the protagonist dives under water and it goes incredibly quiet, like the sound that is normally heard underwater. Simply by stopping the music, the trailer is able to evoke strong feelings of shock and horror. However, what I feel is the most effective use of music in this trailer is the next track - 'Paradise' - that plays for the remainder of the trailer. Not only is the song relevant to the visuals, which look like a stunning paradise, but it is also a very successful and popular song. Fans of Coldplay would flock to see the film simply because they were excited to see their music in the trailer of a film. Many people associate popular music with particular memories, so by using it, the trailer draws on the happy memories of the audience, and by extension causes the trailer itself to be associated with happy memories, making those people want to see the film. It is an extremely clever use of music in a trailer for advertisement. Using Coldplay's music would also get the film publicity because they used Coldplay, so many people would hear about the film because they heard that Coldplay was involved. The song also has a creative benefit as well as an advertising benefit as it heightens the power and strength of the climax of the trailer. It works incredibly well at moments like at 1:38, where the four  distinct beats are timed to four words that appear onscreen - a technique that is used numerous times over the course of the trailer. The music is both epic and ethereal, two attributes that make it perfect for the trailer. The strong beats that generally go with the words display the epic quality, whilst in between them the music is slightly ethereal, making the story seem like a magnificent exciting story, but also one of wonder. 

This would not work, however, if it was not for the strong visuals that support the music. Arguably one of the strongest features about 'Life of Pi' is the vibrant, powerful cinematography that is in almost every shot, and this is demonstrated beautifully in the trailer. There is not one weak shot in the entire trailer. The shot at 1:26 immediately justifies the song choice of 'Paradise' as the shot is simply magnificent. Equally, the final shot at 2:20 is beautiful and showcases the film's incredible visual effects work. It is the perfect shot to end on, as the audience will be lost in wonder by the end. It is clear from this that when working on my trailer, I need to make sure that every single shot is a masterpiece in its own right. For any trailer to stand a chance of being noticed the visuals need to be fantastic, and so this is something I'll really have to work on. The shots not only need to look good, but they also need to look very professional, as any amateur-looking shots will make the production value of the film fall dramatically. I also need to prepare some 'show-stopping' looking shots, that could grab an audience member on its own. By this I mean shots of a similar ilk to the final shot of the 'Life of Pi' trailer. Although these will be hard to achieve, I think that if we take our time on a few exquisite shots then it'll dramatically improve the quality of the entire trailer. The trailer for 'Life of Pi' also shows how essential the choice of music can be in deciding the strength of a trailer. It depends very heavily on music, and I will do a lot of analysis on pieces of music in order to make sure that this aspect of the trailer is perfect. The music here works much better than in 'Django Unchained', as it never dips in volume to allow a character to deliver a line, but instead keeps accelerating the trailer forwards towards its climactic ending.

Trailer Analysis - Django Unchained

The 'Django Unchained' trailer is another style of trailer that has a very unique feel to it. From a filmmaking perspective it must have been hard to create a conventional trailer for a genre that has become very uncommon. There are few Western films being released nowadays, so when creating the trailer the filmmakers would have had to start from scratch. The trailer starts with a cut down version of the opening few scenes, which is conventional of many trailers, however this opening lasts almost a whole minute - almost half the trailer. This is highly unconventional, as most films consider any amount of time in a trailer valuable selling time. By having such a long introduction, the fast paced part of the trailer seems even faster, working in the film's favour as it looks even more action packed later on. For the most part, the trailer is split into three sections - the introductory opening scene which lasts from 0:00 to 0:57, the explanation of the general premise which lasts from 0:57 to 1:37 and finally the climactic, fast-paced ending which covers the rest of the trailer. To some extent, this structure follows Tzvetan Todorov's theory of narrative which suggests conventional narratives are structured in five stages - equilibrium, disruption of the equilibrium, recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and a reinstatement of the equilibrium. Of course, the trailer does not follow the theory of narrative all the way to the final step, as it does not want to give the ending away, but the first four steps are presented clearly. The equilibrium is established from 0:00 to 0:50, in which it establishes Django as a slave, but this is disrupted at 0:51 when he is set free and told that he will help kill some criminals and find his wife. This disruption is recognised between 0:57 and 1:37, where they talk about what the disruption is and what they're going to do about it. The rest of the trailer shows in flashes the attempt to repair the disruption, which takes over the rest of the trailer, as is conventional for a film trailer. It does not show the reinstatement of the equilibrium however, as that would give away huge spoilers for the end of the film.

A key part of a successful trailer is establishing the mood and tone of the film, as this will be vital in determining the audience of the film. The tone that this trailer gives off is that it's a fun, gunslinging roller-coaster of a film, and this comes mainly from the music that starts playing at 0:54. The loud music on trumpets as well as the singer joyously screaming in the background gives it a fast, fun pace. To heighten this mood, the music sometimes dips in volume to make way for a witty one-liner, which would be distracting in a more serious trailer, but here it just adds to the fun of it. The tag line also adds to this: 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Vengeance' - this is taken from the Declaration of Independence, but in the Declaration it is the Pursuit of Happiness. By doing this the film is showing that it is doing a fun spin on a serious topic. On the other hand, it could be taken as a satirical look at the origins of American society, which is based on the ideas of freedom and liberty, and yet in its early years (when the film is based), it was created using slavery. 'Django Unchained' is a film that deals with  this slavery, so by using this line, it is highlighting the inequalities in the society of the time. This line is therefore both humorous and meaningful, showing that the film is more than just the fun action film that it shows on the surface. Through this it appeals to a wide audience - it attracts both people just wanting a good time and people who want to see an acclaimed, meaningful film.

Although lowering the volume to hear the one liners does add to the mood of the trailer by making it seem fun, I also think that it prevents the ending of the trailer being as fast paced and exciting as it could be. At 1:39 there is a one liner and then the music kicks in again in an even more exciting way than before, but the moment is killed off less than 10 seconds later with another line. It then kicks off again on another epic ending style piece of music after that line, but again it is killed off less than ten seconds later by another line. This stop-start nature of the final minute makes the trailer very jarred and stops it getting going and having a fully exciting ending. I find this very frustrating, as I want the end of the trailer to be an exciting, non-stop thrill ride, yet it denies that of the viewer. This could put the viewer off watching the whole film, as they may think that the film never gets a decent climax and that there are one-liners every few seconds. So this is something which I need to learn from for my own trailer; that when it gets towards the end, it needs to cut down on the talking and just let the visuals speak more. At the moment I am erring towards making an action film trailer, and from these examples that I have analysed, action films tend to have a very exciting ending, so I need to make sure that I do not rob the viewers of this ending in the same way that I think the 'Django Unchained' trailer does. However, the one-liners do seem very cool and make the trailer seem a lot more exciting, so I think that I'll have to devise some suitable one-liners. They work very well just before big climaxes in trailers; I have seen from this trailer that just before each crescendo of the music there is a one-liner that kicks it off, which is very effective, so I'll be sure to include this in my trailer.

The 180 Degree Rule

 

The 180 Degree Rule dictates that when filming, the camera should not cross to the opposite side of a scene. If this rule is violated, it disorientates the viewer, and causes the action to look disjointed, as if the scene has switched around. However this rule can be violated for effect, as in The Lord of the Rings when Gollum is talking to himself. In order to create a feeling of multiple personalities, the camera crosses the line to make it looks as if he is talking to himself, yet in the scene he is in the same position. At the beginning of the scene the viewer can see the camera cross the line, so this helps orientate the viewer, and then once it gains the audience's trust, it violates the rule for effect.