Phone Booth:
Thriller film trailers are all common in the way that they all use a mixture of short, quick CU shots in order to show quick snippets of dramatic events, which has the effect of exciting the viewer and immediately drawing the audience into the action and the storyline.
The film trailer opens up with a high-angle long shot of the streets of New York on the roads which are filled with cars moving up and down and people wakling along the streets, straight away this has an effect on the audience and suggests that the world is a big place with millions of different people all going about their daily business at the same time, highlighting the unusual idea that one man out of all of these is going to be singled out and chosen to face this dramatic and dangerous ordeal, it creates a sense of it could happen to anyone which creates an excitement in the audience, whilst the shot also carries out its purpose in setting the scene and showing the location of where these scenes are going to be set.
The film uses many different special effects in order to keep their audience interested in the film trailer; the first of these is the many different photographs which are all drawn together to fit the whole screen full of small images of many different people talking on their mobile phones, this displays to the audience that this is a modern and technoligcal society and most people have mobile phones, this is reinforced by the use of the text '22 million phones', this is bringing to the audiences attention that the film is going to be something to do with a phone call and suggests that due to most people have phones, you do not know who is going to ring you, or who you are possibly speaking to, or even who out of the millions of people has your telephone number. The many pictures also suggests the unlikely odds that this phone call could have involved anyone, however it has involved this central character. Making the audience wonder why it is that the main character is being chosen. Further on in the trailer the text '1 Billion Connections a Day.' This again highlights to the audience that there is 1 billion phone calls between people every day, this huge number shows to the audience that there are a lot of people who own phones and their a loads of phone calls made to people each day indicating again that this film is going to be about a phone call, which links in with the title 'Phone Booth'.
Constantly throughout the trailer there are references to phones, for example with the two main characters of Stu Shepard and his assistant walking along the streets of new york talking on their mobile phones, the many small images put together showing lots of people talking on mobile phones, then there are numerous shots of people walking down the street talking on their phones, stall keepers talking on their phones, and the satellite in space as a symbol to where the phone signals come from. All of these references reinforce to the audience that this film is obviously going to involve a phone call which is obviously going to cause the thrills and narrative of the film by affecting Stu Shepards life forever.
The dialogue 31 seconds into the film trailer gives an indication into this characters life, his mention of britney spears and of being able to get the man a 'truck load of celebrities', suggests to the audience that this man is a big and powerful character and has a lot of influence in the world of hollywood stars, again possibly suggesting that this is Shepards job. This is also indicated by the way the main character is seen wearing an expensive looking suit and shirt, hinting of the characters wealth and again suggests he has a powerful job.
However as soon as the phone call rings and the voice over says, 'someones got his number', the camera. Up until this point the camera has been tracking to follow Shepard as he has been walking forward on his telephone and it is appeared as if the camera has been having to keep up with him, as if the camera represents the media and paparazzi and are constantly having to keep moving back to get their footage of Shepard as he confidently marches forward, it also suggests that this character is important and has a fast paced and chaotic life in which he feels he has got everything he wants, this is highlighted by how the character is shown to be shaking peoples hands and being confident in telling people that he can get them a truck load of celebrity.
However the camera angles then change once Shepard had answered the phone call possibly to symbolise to the audience that the characters life is about to change for good. The camera switches to a high angle shot which has the effect of looking down on Shepard and making the man who thought he was on top of the world, look as if he is small immediately highlighting the change in events by just the simple use of a high angle camera shot. The high angle shot makes him appear small and on the same level as the other people on the street highlighting the fact that he is no better than anyone else. The use of the POV shot from inside of the phone box looking around at all of the high towering buildings surrounding the main character is effectively used here as it creates a sense of mystery along with creating a trapped feeling of the character. For example the speaker could be anywhere in any of the hundreds of buildings surrounding the character creating a sense of mystery as to where this man is who is watching Shepard and prompts the audiences interest as they wonder where abouts he could be along with Shepard. A sense of entrapment is also created as although he is out in the open in the middle of the city he is trapped in the phone booth as the unknown speaker will kill him if he tries to leave.
The effect of the high angle shot looking down on Shepard with the crosshairs hovering over his chest creates an exciting shot as the audience can see that the speaker is actually telling the truth and it lets the audience sense the danger which Shepard is in, which in turn has the effect of helping them feel sympathetic towards Shepard. By showing that Shepard has got crosshairs on him it creates a sense of excitement as the audience now know the danger is close and wonder what is going to happen to Shepard whilst still wondering how the man on the phone knows him and wonder why he has been chosen. This leaves the audiences interested and wondering what is going to happen which keeps them interested and attracted to the film.
The use of the loud gunshot which is followed by a black screen is again effective as it tells the audience that the unknown speaker has shot and by taking away the audience from the scene for a few seconds it leaves the audience desperately wondering if it is Shepard who has been shot. This is effective as it is again another device which excites the audience and pumps their adrenaline keeping them interested in the film and leaving them wanting to know what has happened.
When the police appear with guns and people are shown to be shouting and screaming calling Shepard a killer due to the belief that he killed the man who has just previously been shot by the unknown sniper which again creates more excitement with the audience due to the fact that they now know that this unknown danger will kill which turn the stakes up and create an even greater sense of danger which adds fuel to the audiences excitement as the stakes are constantly being raised. The use of showing three different shots on the same screen is effective at 1:48 - By showing Shepards wife alongside another young and attractive woman who the audience are told is another woman whom Shepard is possibly dating, suggests a bit more about Shepards life and possibly some of the wrongdoings which may possibly be the cause as to why he is in this situation. It also helps the audience by giving an insight into the main characters personality.
The flashing shots shown at the very end of the film work effectively as due to the crescendo in the music and the sound effects which had all grown louder, this suggests to the audience that the ultimate outcome is approaching and that the dangerous climax is about to happen which again has the effect of pumping their adrenaline and keeping them entirely focused on the action. This is accompanied by the loud gunshot and the flashing, subliminal shots of Shepard's face rolling as if he has been shot, suggesting to the audience that this is possibly the outcome, however not stating whether he dies or actually gets shot, leaving the audience hooked to the film and desperately finding themselves having to know what happened to Shepard, meaning the trailer had the desired affect as it encourages the audience to go and see the film.
Text is used to split up the shots 'NEW YORK CITY' '12 million people' , '22 million phones', '1 billion connections a day', 'No Options', 'No Lies', 'No Fear', 'No Deals', 'Just....Keep....Talking.' This text is used to split up the action and provides the audience with a structure as to what the film is about and also provides just phrases to add more information to the audience whilst also keeping their excitement levels high, as phrases such as 'No options' and 'No deals', creates another sense of being trapped saying there is no escape he must tell the truth and do as he is told or die.
The sounds included at the end of the film trailer leave the audience pondering over the possible outcome. At the very end there is the sound of a man wickedly laughing, the audience can associate this characters voice as the unknown speaker and due to him laughing, it indicates to the audience that the character is happy suggesting that he has achieved what he set out to do which would indicate the previous sound of the gunshot. There is also the voice of a woman saying 'If you would like to make a call please replace the handset.' This suggests to the audience that the phone call between these two characters which is what all of this film is about has now ended indicating the end of the film again suggesting that as Shepard hasn't been able to hang up the phone that it could possibly suggest that he has in fact been shot, however due to the fact that there is no firm outcome it leaves the audience wondering what happened and encourages them to have to go and see the film to find out what happens.
Jaws (1975)
The film trailer straight away starts with an underwater shot showing underwater corals and plants and straight away in the opening seconds of the film trailer sets the idea to the audience that possibly the ocean is going to play a big part in the film. The iconic image of the womans feet kicking in the water just 26 seconds into the trailer is instamtly recognisable and the audience can make the connection between this image and the Jaws film. The camera moving upwards closer towards the woman also suggests that something is moving closer to her, it creates a sense of impending danger which the woman is oblivious to however the audience can sense coming which creates dramatic irony as the audience know something is about to happen, whereas the character does not.
The well-known sound track which is iconographic with the Jaws films is played during this scene and gradually becomes louder as the shot moves closer towards the womans legs suggesting that the danger is getting closer as the music reaches its crescendo as the action reaches it's climax. The shot suddenly then switches to above the surface of the water to show the head bobbing up and down before she suddenly disappears under the water, suggesting straight away to the audience that the thing which had been moving closer to the woman underneath the water has struck and dragged her underneath the water. This suggests to the audience that there is something in the water which has attacked this woman.
The scene then switches to show a man playing on an arcade game named 'killer shark', controlling a pretend shark on a game to move the display of the shark around the screen and get it to eat people, as these two scenes are so closely juxtaposed - the scene of the man playing the arcade game and the events which the audience have just witnessed in the sea helps the audience to make the assumption that the thing which attacked the woman and killed her in the sea was a shark.
The scene which follows this is a completely juxtaposed shot of families on the beach and children running down to the sea, laughing and splashing around in the water, the sound of the water splashing is emphasised so as to be a constant reminder to the audience of the scene which has just happened to keep the danger in their attention as they visualise the children playing in the sea, this creates an excitement in the audience as they are watching people playing in the sea with the knowledge that there is something dangerous in the waters which has just killed the woman in the previous scene.
The camera continually switches to underwater shots to switch to the POV of the shark again accompanying these shots is the iconic jaws theme tune symbolsing when the shark is about to strike which in turn excites the audiences everytime they hear this music as they know the shark is about to attack again and that there is going to be danger which excites the readers and compells them to watch in order to see what happens.
The film trailer has a voice over playing over the top which is spoken in a deep voice which sounds as if he is very knowledgable and has a serious and authoritive tone. 'It lives to kill. a mindless eating machine.it will attack and devour anything it is as if god created the devil and gave him jaws'. This provides the reader with an insight into the storyline of the film and by associating the shark with evil such as the devil etc it excites the reader as it creates an image of the shark been a symbol of evil and powerful destruction which excites the audiences and provides them with thrills which has has the effect of encouraging them to want to go and watch the film.
2012 -
- As for my production i decided to produce a hybrid film trailer using conventions from the Horror, thriller, Action and drama genres, i decided that i would like to analyse another film trailer which covers more than one film genre in order for me to discover how the different conventions from the different genres can be taken and work together to create a good production with all of the different exciting and interesting elements from across a range of genres, therefore i researched into some different films and discovered that the modern film which has only recently being released '2012' covers a wide range of different genres; drama, thriller, action, adventure, sci-fi, so therefore i decided that this would be a good film to use in order to establish how they have interpreted the different aspects of the different conventions into their media construct and how effectively it works.
The film trailer starts off with a bright golden light shining casting a bright glow over the scene before the first text appears, after researching many different film trailers i discovered that usually the film shows some footage of the film first and then shows some text to support the scenes from the film, however interestingly, this trailer has opted to do this the other way around and place the text first and then go to the images which is effective as it sets the scene before the action is showed to the audience. Firstly the text 'Mankinds earliest civilisation' appears before fading away to reveal an image of an aztec temple indicating to the audience that this is what the text is referring to. Then the text 'Warned Us' appears on screen, again linking in with the image of the Aztec temple which has just been shown to the audience suggesting that the Aztecs where the ones who warned us, the audience, about something which the film is going to show us. By using the plural 'us' it indicates that the film is referring to the audience as part of the film giving them the impression that they are part of the storyline which has the effect of making the audience feel included and want to know what it is that they have been warned about. Immediately interesting them in the film.
The film trailer then shows a brief image of space and the planets with this possibly being a reference to the world, suggesting to the audience that they where warned about something in connection with the world and the planet. 'This Day Would Come'. Behind this text is an image of a solar exclipse, showing the moon moving in front of the sun and descending into darkness. This indicates to the audience that due to the descending into darkness it symbolises possibly the sun failing, whilst also the colour black has connotations with death and mystery suggesting to the audience that the audience do not know what is about to happen and it is all a mystery of what is happening and why. During the first 20 seconds of the film trailer there are strange and eerie sounds that gradually get louder and quieter until they suddenly completely stop and a mans voice is introduced, indicating to the audience that the narrative to the film trailer has now begun and that the first few scenes which they have just scene, has given them a taster and prepared them for the main narrative structure of the film trailer. The first few scenes engages the audience with the trailer and provokes their interest, getting them involved in the film before it starts to develop its plot line, this is effective as sometimes, if a film jumps straight into the action, the audiences become confused as to what is happening and lose interest.
The scene then moves across to a reported on a television screen who is stood outside the Aztec temple which has just previously been shown to the audience talking about a mass suicide which has happened there is predicted by the mayan calander which predicts the end of time to occur on the 21st of December, this year', the reporter continually repeats 'this year' three times, the effect of the repition adds emphasis to what the reporter is saying and reinforces to the audience that the end of time is predicted for the year in which the film is in, highlighting the fact that the end of the world is predicted to occur soon and this immediately tells the viewing audience where the action and drama is going to come from.
The trailer then depicts some quick and short shots of some episodes of destruction for instance rioters tipping over a car, followed by a scene of a huge statue crumbling and falling into the ocean which is then followed a wild forest fire sweeping through the trees. These episodes of destruction one after another whilst the reporter is repeating that the end of the world is predicted for this year. The short and snappy scenes is a typical convention of most action and thiller trailers where the trailers are edited tightly so that its one scene constantly after another to keep hold of the audiences attention and to not lose it due to a scene being too slow. This trailer is encorporating this in their trailer as the quick scenes of destruction and panic which is shown among the general public also create a sense of fear and panic in the audience viewer, which creates an excitement in the audience and draws them into the film as they want to know what is going to happen and begin to feel more excitement through the dramatic events which are being shown which is pumping their adrenaline and keeping them hooked to the action which is appearing on the screen.
These scenes are followed with again another set of quick shots, showing a lot of birds flying together in a long line, animals are thought to have a sense of danger and birds fly away when they sense danger around them suggesting that their is danger looming as the animals are fleeing, it could also be a reference to birds migrating when the weather gets cold, as the audience have already seen a reference of the sun failing this could indicate that there is a connection between the two. The references to the pope and of the huge numbers of people gathered to pray and the reference to religion indicate to the audience the moral panic of the people and they are all praying to their different religions for salvation and to be saved which again suggests to the audience the possibility of the end of the world and the peoples panic, again this has the effect of making the audience feel as though they are experiencing this too and feel the panic which the characters are feeling. Also during the religious scene, they are all in darkness holding candles which reinforces the possibility that the sun has failed and that the world is ending, the colour black having conotations with nothingness and blindness as the people are blind in the darkness and are panicked and confused, by showing all of the vast numbers of people gathering together it also creates a more serious feeling to the threat as everyone is being affected by it and it reinforces to the audience the point that this is the end of the world, this is peoples fear and desperation to find a way to survive, it highlights a fight for survival, the collapse of humanity and the anhilation of the world which sounds like an immensely dramatic event which is what creates the excitement and panic in the audience whilst watching the film which is what encourages them to watch the film. This sequence of shots is ended by the effect of a television switching off. This is a clever effect in two ways; firstly it could represent light and the world slipping away into nothingness and blackness and then the picture disappears showing simulating the end of the world, or it could be the idea of somebody turning off their television set and thinking what the reporter is saying is not true and they dont believe the impending events which are set to end the world.
The next scene is started with a creepy voice of a male character saying 'oooh what are the odds.' Showing a farther mocking the whole idea. His young daughter is laughing whilst his son plays on his psp not really bothered. The film than instantly turns this scene on its head and mixes sci-fi elements of meteors shooting out of the sky to create a dramatic action and thriller scene. The visual effects used here are amazing which encapsulates the audiences attention by the breath taking special effects of the meteors tearing the ground apart. The loud explosions sounds which accompany them create a cataclysmic end-of-the-world-moment, the loudness and CU shots of the meteors and destruction pumps the audiences attention at this highly dramatic and fast moving scene which has got a lot of action conventions, the whole mixture of these elements creates an excitement in the audience and makes them alert and completely engrossed in the action which they are seeing.
The trailer again uses conventions which are incorporated in both genres Action and Thriller with the fast and CU shots, showing the road almost ripple as it starts cracking up and crumbling away into nothingness, bridges are shown collapsing, cars flying everywhere and crashing, buildings crumbling to the ground, huge holes opening up in the floor, the vatican crumbling up and falling to the floor. The fast sequence of scenes comes to a halt when the top of the vatican comes hurtling towards the screen almost as if it is going to come out of the screen and strike the audience, again having the effect of keeping them involved in the action. These scenes, shown in quick sucession create a sense of panic and of all of these end of the world events happening in a really short space of time which creates a sense of fear within the audience as they empathise through the characters and it has the effect of them putting themselves in that position and wondering what they would do and how they would feel, whilst all the time the CU shots of amazing CGI graphics with holes opening up in the ground and the vatican hurtling towards you, the audiences adrenaline is again pumped and all of these exciting and dramatic events hold their interest as they want to know what will eventually happen.
The audience are then taken away from the action by the text 'From Roland Emmerich', the audience are given the directors name here so that they will remember it if they are liking what they are seeing so far. Then the voice of the main character speaks again saying 'I thought we'd have had more time.' This reinforces to the audience just how quickly these end of the world events are happening and also makes the audience think as these events are predicted in real life, and although people dont believe they are true it makes people think how fast it could happen and again creates a sense of panic in the audiences at the prospect that it could happen to them. Again the trailer uses great CGI effects to show burning and destroyed cityscapes, using long shots to capture the anihalation of the city and the vast extent of the devestation. The audience are then taken away from the action again with the text 'From the director of the Independence Day', this is another promotional feature as people who enjoyed the well-known and big selling blockbuster film the 'Independence Day', will be encouraged to go and see this film as it is by the same director and they have seen some of his work before and liked it, however if they didnt like his last film, the audience will still be encouraged to come and view this film due to its intense, exciting and fast sequences of action and thrills which is conveyed in through the trailer. This is also followed by the text 'And the Day After Tomorrow', again people who liked this film may be encouraged into seeing this film, it also tells the audience that this director has been behind these two well-known blockbuster hits which indicates that this is a good director and that this film will be good.
The trailer makes references to the technological society we live in in the way that all of the big screen tv's on down a street in America at 1:08 with all of the screen showing the presidents face highlighting he is saying something important, again reinforcing that this is serious as the president of the US is even telling people of it.
The trailers constant use of CU shots, for example at 1:10 where the plane is shown to be flying over the ground which is just falling away into nothingness below is effective as it suggests the whole world is literally just falling apart, highlighting the characters desperate panic and confusion which creates the excitement in the film as the audience and the characters alike develop a tension and a fear of the unknown and what is about to happen. At 1:12 the male character is shown to be covering his small daughters traumatised and scared face, even this small shot creates a feeling in the audience of whether there is going to be another generation of humans, or whether this is the end of the entire human race, which again provokes though into the audience.
The trailer has included the fast car element which is associated with the action genre, in the scene where the main character is shown to be driving a nice looking fast car alongside a plane which is beginning to take off, people generally associate action films with having desperate and dangerous car chases with expensive looking fast cars and this element of the genre has been incorporated into this hybrid film again to create action which the trailer uses to keep propelling the story forward at such a pace that makes everything seem as if it is happening so fast and creates a nervous excitement in the audience who want to know what is going to happen. Also other conventional elements taken from the Action genre are the many explosions, fires, cars smashing, the aeroplane crashing into the ground etc. These are all typically associated with the action genre and it is clear to see how this film has borrowed some of the conventional elements from this genre, they have also created the thrills by suggesting this is the end of the world, the end of humanity, and highlights the desperate panic which in turn creates the thrills along with the exciting effects of the world collapsing around the main characters who are racing around to desperately try and stay alive. There are also certain elements of drama in here such as saving the human species, the main heros young children, will there be a future for mankind and humanity, these issues prompt thought into the audiences along with the drama which is created by the family who are trying to stay together no matter what happens, who all love each other, with the father doing everything he can to protect and save his family. There is also an adventure element to this film which is seen by the way that the world is collapsing and will soon be no more, so if people do manage to survive where are they going to live, and set up homes and create a new world, this creates the sense of an adventure ahead, of new and different discoveries to be made and choices to be decided.
The trailer also follows the typical conventions of the thriller genre by the dramatic operatic music track that they have chosen to play over the trailer. The dramatic operatic singing creates drama in accompanying this with the dramatic scenes of planes crashing, the waves splashing up, the dramatic winds, the world collapsing all of these elements create a dramatic and tense atmosphere to the trailer which again creates an exciting and thrilling film trailer which generates excitement in the audience and encourages them to go and see the film.
'The end is just the beginning' - This text is played through the film trailer. This again creates an excitement within the audience as it symbolises the end of the world is just the beginning of the troubles for the characters.
