Initial Ideas - Style/Genre of Film Trailers

The genre that Camilla and I have decided to work in is thriller. The common theme in this genre is that there are disruptions between the protagonist and antagonist characters. Tension is built by the use of camera angles, shots and diegetic and non-digetic sound. The thriller genre features in many works of literature, art and media across the decades and famous works of this genre include: Seven by David Fincher and Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. 

Some conventions of this genre include the editing being fast paced and this is to create tension and suspense. The lighting is usually low and has a blue tint.  Music is very useful as it helps to build up tension using noises from instruments like the violin which get louder and higher pitched or quick loud banging sounds whenever the clip changes to a new one to make the heart beat faster. There is also a lot of continuity editing and montage sequencing to help pass time and not elongate the storyline. Thrillers are usually one of these themes: documentary style, true story, psychological, crime, enigma or supernatural. The director will use lots of close up and extreme close up shots to show the characters emotions, they can also be used to further the narrative. Shots of the antagonist character w
ill normally cut quickly so as not to reveal identity leaving the audience in suspense. The sound and mise-en-scene are very important in a thriller as they create an atmosphere for the characters and the viewers which will add to the emotive impact of the narrative. 

As we plan to create a trailer for a movie of the thriller genre our target audience will be predominantly male ages 17-22. However, our trailer will be certificated as a 15 so more people will be able to watch the trailer and be interested in it. I think that 15 is an appropriate target audience as most psychological thrillers contain some sort of violence and issues that could be disturbing for a younger audience. The secondary audience will be predominantly heterosexual females also aged between 17-22. I think that males are more likely to watch our film as they stereotypically do not get as frightened by horror/thriller movies as females. 

Technological Advances

In the past, films were not distributed digitally and were all made on rolls of film. These rolls of film would then be delivered to the cinemas exhibiting the films and would then be projected to the big screen using a trained projectionist who will have to load the film onto the projector, sync the audio and sit and watch the roll on the projector to make sure it doesn’t get damaged because if it does then the cinema may lose money. After a while the film would become damaged and over time the quality would decrease making the film ruin. The films were very expensive to make on the rolls (around $1000 per roll of 35mm film) and very expensive to deliver, it was also very difficult to distribute the films internationally because the amount of storage the rolls of film require and cost of delivering to the cinemas worldwide. The marketing of the films was also difficult, meaning that the film relied on physical adverts e.g. Posters and leaflets, radio adverts, TV adverts and word of mouth to market the film.

Films nowadays are distributed digitally making it easier to distribute the films to more cinemas and allowing them to be shown for a longer time. These films can easily be shown in the cinema as the projectionist doesn’t really need to be trained because they only need to press a few buttons and sit making sure that the film is running well. The digital version of the film won’t be damaged as you use it because it isn’t a physical roll of film, this allows the cinemas to make as much money as possible from the film and they can then sell the film on afterwards undamaged unlike the physical roll of film which would be damaged and would need to be thrown away. The digital films are a lot cheaper to make because they don’t need physical rolls of film, the film can be sent electronically or sent on a memory device. Nowadays there would be a lot more cinemas showing digital films and not physical films meaning the film would be shown in more cinemas. The marketing of the films is so much easier when done digitally and markets the film to a much wider audience. This is because the film is marketed using TV, radio, websites, trailers, games, apps, banners and posters. The digital marketing allows an international audience to be reached and more people will become interested in the film. The digital distribution can also have it’s disadvantages, for example piracy can happen which would involve someone taking the digital copy and posting it online before the film’s release on DVD or online streaming websites.

Film trailers have also advanced alongside films in the industry and have improved drastically as time has gone on, improvements in motion graphics and visual effects, camera quality and editing programs have helped production company produce great trailers that captivate audiences. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4cxvrXTOc8

The film 'The Stranger' is a Psychological thriller from 1946 starring and directed by Orson Welles. The trailer is in black and white and the titling/text and transitions are very basic but at the time would have been quite advanced. The sound in the trailer isn't very good, it has a very loud soundtrack which pauses for the character's speech which is quite quiet, then after the speech ends the music starts again abruptly and almost makes you jump from the suddenness and loudness. There is a lot of text transitions in the trailer and it is quite hard to keep track of what they are saying. In these days the trailer was more about showcasing the storyline and the actors than showcasing the cinematography, editing and sound techniques used throughout.

If you compare that thriller trailer from 1946 to a thriller trailer now you can see how much technology has advanced and how editing, sound and camera techniques have improved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1EmTKAWIw

The Walk is a film based on a true event that Philippe Petit did in 1974 and was Directed by Robert Zemeckis. 
The trailer is in colour and is recorded with very high quality cameras, the SFX is showcased throughout and the sound and editing is brilliant and very advanced. This trailer showcases the cinematography, editing and sound techniques and explain the story in a way that captivates the audience and makes them want to watch unlike the older trailer which is almost confusing. The sound and film clips are editing together really well and the transitions are smooth unlike the older one which is very abrupt. The text is also really effective and is editing using editing software to move and create motion graphics (example 2:02 and 2:23 in the trailer)

Legal restraints

Copyright
Copyright law in the UK involves items such as Scripts, Art work, Songs, Sound recordings, Film and Broadcasts. The length of the copyright usually lasts the entire life of the creator plus 70 years and there are different levels of copyright which have different levels of protection. Copyright is in place to prevent a person from financially gaining from the exhibition and distribution of another person’s work without their formal consent.

Video recordings Act 1984
The video recording act 1984 was introduced in order to control the classification in which films are given an age certificate. This also restricts who can actually watch and purchase a film commercially.

The age ratings are regulated by The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and they assign age ratings to video.

The categories of classification are as follows:

• U– Universal, suitable for all
  

“It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror. If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in the Consumer Advice.”

• PG - parental guidance general viewing.

“General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.”

• 12/12 A -
  

“Exactly the same criteria are used to classify works at ‘12A’ and ‘12’. These categories are awarded where the material is suitable, in general, only for those aged 12 and over. Works classified at these categories may upset children under 12 or contain material which many parents will find unsuitable for them. The ‘12A’ category exists only for cinema films. No one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult, and films classified ‘12A’ are not recommended for a child below 12. An adult may take a younger child if, in their judgement, the film is suitable for that particular child. In such circumstances, responsibility for allowing a child under 12 to view lies with the accompanying adult. The ‘12’ category exists only for video works. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video work.”

• 15 - suitable only for persons of 15 years and older. Not to be supplied to any person below that age.

"15 can include:

• strong violence 
• frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***'). 
• portrayals of sexual activity 
• strong verbal references to sex 
• sexual nudity 
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence 
• discriminatory language or behaviour 
• drug taking"

• 18 - suitable only for persons of 18 years and older. Not to be supplied to any person below that age.

"Can include:

• very strong violence 
• frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***') and / or very strong language (e.g. ‘c***’) 
• strong portrayals of sexual activity 
• scenes of sexual violence 
• strong horror"
• strong blood and gore  
• real sex (in some circumstances) 
• discriminatory language and behaviour "

R18- to be supplied only in licensed sex shops to persons of not less than 18 years.




My group have decided that we plan to make the film rated 15 because it includes some violent scenes which may be disturbing for younger viewers. However, our trailer is going to be rated 12 as we want it to get more recognition and be available to a larger audience. The trailer will still include some violence and potentially strong language, however by monitoring the amount of action is put into the trailer it will still be suitable for younger viewers. This will mean it can be shown in cinemas which are showing 12 films and this may gain more of an audience base for when the film is released.

Institutions

I researched both major and independent film institutions and studios to figure out which institution would be most likely to distribute the film for the trailer we make. 

There are 6 major film companies in the USA and on is 20th century fox which was founded in 1935 and is the most well known institution worldwide. The studio is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Some of the most successful films created by 20th Century Fox are Avatar, Titanic, Star Wars, X-Men and Ice Age. 20th Century Fox creates mostly Comedy an Family genre films and as I am producing a Thriller film trailer I need to look into whether 20th Century Fox would be a good idea to pick. Although 20th Century Fox prefer to make Comedy and family films they also create Thriller films such as Alien, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Chronicle. 

The company Warner Bros is another very well known company and is based in California and New York. Warner Bros is a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of creative content and their related businesses, across all current and emerging media and platforms. Some of the most popular films created by Warner Bros Fox are Harry Potter, The Hangover, The Dark Knight and Interstellar . Warner Bros produce and distribute a vast variety of films of different genres.  After researching what thriller movies Warner Bros had been involved in producing or distributing I compared it to 20th Century Fox and noticed that Warner brothers had produced more well-known and successful Thriller films than 20th Century Fox. Some thriller films that Warner Bros have created areFriday the 13th, Inception, Interstellar, The Matrix and The Edge of Tomorrow. If I was to choose between the two on which would be more suitable to produce and distribute my film with is Warner Bros as they have more experience with the Thriller Genre which means they would make better success out of my film.

 Hammer is a film production company based in the UK and was founded in 1934. The company is best known for a series of Gothic Horror films produced between the mid-1950s until the 1970s. In the late 1960s and 1970s the intensity of the horror film market was so competitive that Hammer lost American funding and it closed down in the 1980s but the company then announced plans to begin making films again in 2000.When looking for a British company to research I came across Hammer Films and it is a great institution to use as they focus on the production of horror and thriller films. Some of their best produced and well-known films are The Curse Of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Woman in Black and The Quiet Ones. Hammer is  a smaller film company than the American companies I talked about previously but Hammer is better when producing Independent films where as the American companies always produce Mainstream films. Hammer Films also only focuses on producing Horror and Thriller films unlike the big American Institutions that create a variety of genres to please as many different audiences as possible. 

I think that Hammer Films would suit our film the most as they specialise in Horrors and Thrillers so would excel in the distribution of the film trailer/film.

History of Film Trailers

History of film trailers

Movie trailers have changed over the past 50 years, have developed their own styles and shortened over the decades. Film trailers can all be very different depending on the genre. Trailers begun with promoting products and theatre productions but then progressed onto promoting films.

 

1930s – 1940s

Universal studios had begun to make horror films, the earliest of which were Dracula and Frankenstein both in 1931. The Mummy was made in 1932 and was the first film to include Egyptology into the horror genre. In the 1930s - 1940s trailers had a different format from the format today, the trailers would showcase the actors and the special effects and would show little glimpses of the films instead of going through the narrative like they do more nowadays.

1950s - 1960s

The trailers in the 50s - 60s were really long and would ruin the film by telling the audience the whole story of the film which wasn't the best idea, but people who really like the storyline would then go and watch the film in cinema. They also flashed words on the screen such as terrifying to scare the audience. During the late 1950’s Great Britain began to shine when it came to producing horror films, Alfred Hitchcock created the first slasher film in 1960 called Psycho. In the 1960s they would also often show the ending of the film which would reveal the exciting effect thus ruin the film. Another highly influential horror film of this time was Night of The Living Dead in 1968, concerning zombies. The film was made on a low budget but made $30 million internationally. They tried to build actors names in the trailers more during this decade trying to make them big names. Finally the used narration to summarise the story for the audience making it easier to take in.

1970s - 1980s

During the 1970's film trailers were still very long and developed so they didn't show the whole storyline and ruin it to the audience. This shows us that they revealed less of the plot to the audience, however they still showed many key spoiler scenes. They also went against common conventions as many film trailers have a little bit of an order for example having establishing shots first, although in the 1970's they didn't do this so they could confuse the audience. In the early 1970s paranormal horror films began a rise in popularity. The Exorcist was released in 1973 and was followed by lots of films, evil children and reincarnation also became popular themes for horror films during this time. The Omen in 1976 was also incredibly popular. Through the 1980’s more violent and slasher horror movies were made including Friday the 13th in 1980 and A Nightmare On Elm Street in 1984. During the 1980's the film trailers were even tighter again which would tell very little of the story to the audience. The trailers would often include scenes which were cut from the actual film. Finally they would also not include spoilers thus not revealing anything so it would be a total mystery about the film. Vampires also came back into a popular and fashionable genre and teens were often main characters to attract a younger teen audience. 

1990s - 2010s

From the 1990's onwards film trailers tend to use rock music in the background and zoom editing styles are used. The whole plot of the film are mainly kept quiet and we only get to see some fast images put together. Horror took a down turn during this time due the endless amount of slasher movies that had been made in the 1980s and the fact that the ved on. To reconnect with this audience during the second half of the 1990s horror became more ironic and to some extent even parodic. Some people even say that the film trailers are better than the actual film itself.
In the 2000s Horror and thrillers became alot scarier than preceious decades and Psychological horror became popular with the likes of The Ring in 2002 and The Grudge in 2004 being released. However the most popular sub-genre of the 2000s has been zombie themed films. Film trailers tend to be quick paced with suspense filled scenes and music to attract the person watching, get their heart beating and make it very interesting.