Trailer Analysis: The Ring

The Ring
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald
Written by: Kôji Suzuki, Ehren Kruger and Scott Frank
Based on: Ring by Koji Suzuki
Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Daveigh Chase, Brian Cox
Music by: Hans Zimmer
Cinematography: Bojan Bazelli
Editing by: Craig Wood
Distributed by: DreamWorks Pictures
Release date(s): October 18, 2002
Running time: 115 minutes
Country: United States, Japan and United kingdom
Language: English

Plot.
A supposedly cursed videotape is found and according to legend, those who watch the tape will die in seven days.

The very start of this trailer does not show the institution/ studio. This is important as it would show the audience who the production company is. People who already know the production company may have liked other films by them and may then think this film will be a good too.  diagetic ambient sound is used, as the audience can hear the movement the tape is making as it has been incerted into the tape player.

The background of this shot is extremely dark and dismal. This therefore suggests that the film may have a sinister plot. This then means that anyone who enjoys watching horror films can understand the genre of the film and so are more likely to go and see the film. The bold, white text written in capslocks has been used to catch the attention of the audience. this is important as before this the trailer has been uninteresting which means the audience may get bored. Using strong, visible text grabs the audiences attention.

Showing the door gives us the feel that something bad may happen, as in most horror films, as soon as we see a door we always shout at the character "don't go in there!" The lighting shows us something may happen as when it is dark in a home alone there is always a sense of urgency and fearfulness. The audience can then hear the sound of the tape fuzzing as though there is a proble, this could suggest that something may happen in the film that may cause some problems.The pace of the edits are slow suggesting that theire may not be a sence of ergency in this part of the film.

The fuzzy screen shows us that something must not be right. we know it is part of the teaser trailer but when we usually see a fuzzy screen we think our television may be broken or the signal coming through the television may be interrupted. this makes us as the audence think something must be going on, without knowing ezactly what it is. the pace of the edits start to speed up slightly as the trailer moves on. This could suggest that the events happening in the trailer are becoming more eurgent until it reaches the climax.

For anyone who does not know what the film is the about , watching the trailer can be very important. when watching the trailer and coming across the words 'seven days later' the audience wonders what could this mean and what is going to happen next. This leaves a sence of not knowing in the minds of the audience which will help them watch it. The theory thats helps us understand this is Barthes enigma code, whichstates that by the end of a text the puzel should be solved. this means that if the audience does not understand what is going on in the trailer, they will want to go to see the film so that the puzzel can be solved. Again the text creates, buildes, and grabs the audiences attention.


Next we see a well in a dark, wooded area. the setting: This is the typicl place for a horror film to be based as the audience knows the woods hold the unknown. This means that the audience are able to tell that somehing is going to happen. It uses a fast pace, to jump to the well, in the middle of nowhere suggesting something bad has happened or will happen in this well. As a teaser trailer is very short only the very best or most important parts of a film can be incorporated into it. This tells that the well must have some significance in the film.






Near the end of the trailer, we see a character that must be important to the film, she looks like a child. This is important as we as the audience must try to work out why she is so important to the trailer. 

Trailer Analysis: Saw

Trailer Analysis
SAW 3D

Directed by: Kevin Greutert
Produced by: Mark Burg, Oren Koules, Gregg Hoffman.

Written by: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan.

Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell,Sean Patrick Flanery, Cary Elwes.

Music by: Charlie Clouser.

Cinematography: Brian Gedge.

Editing by: Andrew Coutts.
Studio: Twisted Pictures.

Release date(s): October 28, 2010 (2010-10-28) (United Kingdom and Australia), October 29, 2010 (2010-10-29) (United States)

The very start of this trailer shows the institution/ studio. This is important as it shows the audience who the production company is. People who already know the production company may have liked other films by them and may then think this film will be a big hit and so will go to see it. When watching this we  also hear a screech which helps us assume the trailer is about a horror film. The pace of this is reasonably slow which sugests that the instution is important and needs to be read. You can also tell that the trailer is for a horror film as we can see the white text, clashing on the black background. The font of the text is bold which is striking and eyecatching towards the audience. The image of the dagger also relates to the text on screen as the thorns are twisted around the dagger. This means that the audience can recognise the institution.

The start of this trailer uses familiarity so that we know what film it is before the name of the film appears. This means that the saw films have their own codes and conventions.This It is traditional for the Saw films to use a fuzzy screen to show when the character Billy the ventriloquist puppet appears on screen. This immediately shows us that something is about to happen. This uses fast editing to show the screen for a second. This then means that the audience has to concentrate to the traiter. It also almost seems like a subliminal meassage as it is so fast and makes us understand the purpose of using the screen, withough seeing Billy. Just before the fuzzy screen appears a voice says "you cant hide" this is important as it tells the audience what type of horror film this is. it shows us that no matter what you do you can not hide from the evil character in the story.

By adding a calm scene to the trailer, we can tell this is equilibrium, which is Todorov's theory. A camera angle used to show this state of calmness is a pan. This was used because it gives the audience a chance to see how everyone in the film is reacting. This also suggests that somewhere in the film there is calmness and then somewhere else there is tension. The voiceover also adds tension to the trailer as it makes the audience think about the words being said and the incidental music behind it.

Using a fast pace, after the equilibrium there is an almost subliminal type wheel appear on screen of a small amount of time. This suggests we are not meant to see the weird looking wheel but instead, stay looking at the calm natural side of the story, the towns people. This  then means as we are not expecting the jump between the two we are scared more as we see the man reaching to escape.

 This time though the pace of the edits are slow. A medium close up is used to show the emotions on the face of the character. The pace and medium close up are used to build tension between the character in need and the audience that want him to escape. Incidental music and a voice over is used to build tension. The incidental music in the background is calm  but the voiceover contridicts this as the voice used it the voice of the evil character in the film.

As we come about one third of the way through this trailer, we get to see this. Where it says "witness the final Saw". This makes us want to see the film as we think it will be the last saw film and so it has to be good. the pace of the edits and incidental music speeds up to build tension as we have to watch and listend fast. As the trailer is for a horror film the pace of the edits shows us what to expect when watching the film, this shows us that a lot of things happen in this film. Again the colour of the text is white which contrasts with the colour of the background, this means that the audience can see the text clearly. The text writen in capslocks helps the words look bigger and more important. Usually when a text is written in capslocks  usually means something important or that someone is shouting. This could suggest the text is important.

Research Plan

The genre of my proposed main media product is horror. I have chosen this genre as I enjoy watching horror films. I find horror films creative and can grab the audience’s attention and make them intrigued by what they are watching. This is done through the use of sound, mise en scene, camera shots and angles and how each shot and scene is edited together. Other types of media products I have chosen to create are; a web site advertising the film using my trailer, giving information to an audience viewing the web page and photos of the cast in costume, promoting the film. I will also make a poster advertising my film, which will show the audience what they can expect when going to see the film. This will be one image that gives as much detail as possible, without over informing an audience with too much information. this should be done so that a viewer can look at the poster to see the main image; catching their eye, then turn away and want to look back in order to find out more.

The target audience for my trailer, web site and poster will be for anyone over the age of 15. I have chosen this because most horror films have a certificate of 15 or over. This means that I am losing a small amount of an audience who are younger than 15 but this is important as it shows my intended audience that the film must be for a more mature audience and must be horrifying to a younger audience, thus having and intended affect to an older audience making them want to see the film, I hope my trailer will interact with the audience and also have the intended effect on them, to scare and shock them. This is why having a younger audience would not be appropriate.

There are many products that are similar to what I want to achieve. These include:

Web pages

http://www.officialsawfanclub.com/

These are the web sites I may research and review.

Trailers

Saw 3D Teaser Trailer

The Ring Teaser Trailer

Dead awake Teaser Trailer

The Last Exorcism Trailer

Paranormal Activity 2 Teaser Trailer

Shutter

I will choose 3 of these trailers to research and review.

Posters



 

These are the posters I want to research and review.

The reason why I will enjoy creating my trailer, poster and web site is because I enjoy watching trailers, looking at posters, and exploring web pages to find as much detail as possible in order to know about up and coming films that I may want to go and see. I want to make a trailer that could be good enough to use when making a film. I am naturally interested in creating movies and trailer anyway but am inspired by how creative each trailer is and how different they are, even if they have similar plots.