Genre research cont.

Trailers

This is the trailer for the romantic film, Titanic. It begins by showing the 20th century fox credits which allows the audience to acknowledge it is a well produced film, made by a large film company. As the trailer begins it is very quiet and this adds to the tense atmosphere, the colours are also very dark so you are not clear what is going on.
There is the use of a deep male voice over and opens with 'Take a journey back in time'. This is a bold statement and will catch the audiences attention and invite them into the storyline. The background music is orchestral, beginning slower and quieter and as the pace of the clips shown increases, the music gets louder and faster.
In the beginning there are lots of fading establishing shots.Throughout the whole trailer there is much use of the fading effect between different scenes; this is something we should perhaps consider when we edit out shots together. The fading effect adds to the romantic feel of the film and therefore helps establish this to the audience.
I found there was no chronological order to the scenes in the trailer, and there is in fact a lot of switching from the present to the past. However this might not fit in with our story line but it still worth being aware that not all trailers show the scenes in the correct order.
I also noticed the vast contrast in the colours of certain themes depending on whether they were romantic and joyful scenes or dark and upsetting scenes. The romantic scenes gave a warm hue and were far more orange/yellow tinted compared to the sad scenes which were cold and were far more blue tinted. This is something we should use within our trailer as we will be including romantic and sad scenes and would help clarify the difference between these scenes.
Lots of point of view shots are used to highlight objects significant to the plot line. A lot of close up shots of characters are used also, indicating it is a highly emotive film which will allow the audience to bond with characters. The characters 'Rose' and 'Jack' receive the most viewing time which shows that they are the most important characters. Their relationship is first shown using long shots, as the trailer progresses, close up shots, shot reverse shots and two shots are used, showing they are becoming closer.

This is the trailer for The Notebook  which begins with the film certificate and then shows the production company's logo, that fades out and shows clips from the films. There is classical music and narration from one of the characters. The music and the fading clips combined with the narrators soft tone, creates a calm, inviting atmosphere. The trailer shows a short summary of events, beginning with how the couple met, it shows their problems and then hints at the ending but does not give it away. The narration stops while the full sound of the film is played, giving the audience a taster of the film, but still the music plays.

A lot of close-up shots are used, showing the emotion of the characters, suggesting it is a highly emotive film. Long shots, establishing shots and mid-shots are also used to show other character's reactions, establish the setting and to add emphasis when a character is arriving or leaving. The close-up shots show a lot of eye contact between characters. The film includes two love stories, or even a love triangle - two characters tend to have all the focus at once, the other characters are not included. The two lovers are both shot equally, one is not focused on more than the other, showing that they are equal and it is both their story's, not just one.

As the trailer progresses, the pace of the clips speeds up; the music becomes louder and more powerful; and the voice of the narrator is changed, it is a male with a stronger, more intense voice who is not a character in the story. The narrator highlights the fact that the film was made from the novel and also famous actors names and the director of the film. The characters look up as their names are said, they are smiling and the sun is shining on their faces, showing it's a positive moment. De-saturated colouring is used to show the unhappy events, adding to the atmosphere and intensifying the emotion. All of the clips flow and fade in and out calmly showing that it is a slow-paced, calm film.

Key lines from characters in the film are said between narration for emotive effect - they become slogans for the film.

The trailer ends with the name of the film clear on the screen, the narrator reads it out clearly. Some of the credits for the film are shown at the end of the trailer.