Research: 'Panic Room' Trailer Analyis

 Please watch the embedded video below for analysis of the trailer for Panic Room. (Additional details in text below video)

• Throughout the entire trailer, many of the shots are filmed from non-static cameras (hand-held, steadicam, tracking, panning. This technique is used to make the audience feel as though they are in the film and experiencing what they're watching for themselves.
• Many quick cuts are used to show the pace of the action (a lot of the shots last less than a second), creating tension, and have been editing to show two or more different things happening at the same time.
• Low -angle shots are used to signify dominance and empowerment of character, and high-angle shots have been used to reduce the characters’ control over the situations in the narrative.
• The use of non-diegetic sound throughout the trailer is very important. At the beginning, we hear music, which then appears later on in the trailer at points of high tension. As the pace of the trailer gets faster and the tension builds up more and more, the music becomes louder, more dominant and fast paced, which adds to our apprehension and expectation. There is a load drum/banging noise during the flash transition that defines the start of the disruption within the trailer’s narrative, which enhances this moments’ significance.
• We don’t actually hear the villains speak properly at all in the trailer, only the protagonists. Villains only shout inaudibly and scream so the audience aren’t given any reason to see things from their point of view and automatically side with the heroes. For a trailer almost 2 and half minutes long, there is very little dialogue as it would spoil the plot for many viewers. Many of the diegetic sound effects are very loud, so they stand out and hint towards the film’s plot without giving too much away (e.g. gun cocking, doors creaking/shutting/tools being emptied on table/mirror smashing). These are amplified heavily to draw the audience’s attention to them, so we focus on the specific things intended rather than being distracted by any background noise in the trailer.
• All of the characters are wearing dark clothing, none of which are particularly dramatic, so we focus on the other elements of the film’s construction in order to understand what’s going on. The darkness of the clothing works well with the low key lighting, which creates an apathetic atmosphere, which concentrates the audience’s focus on the areas that excite the most thrills in the film.  

Research: 'Harry Brown' - Trailer Analysis

Harry Brown (2009) is a British crime thriller starring Michael Caine, and was directed by Daniel Barber. It has been given a 7.3 user rating on IMDB.

To watch the original video -click here-

The trailer above was used to advertise the film's release in UK cinemas, and follows many conventions of thrillers. There are many establishing shots of the stereotypical housing estate in which the film is set, allowing the audience to identify with its location as we can compare it to similar places we have seen elsewhere, thus making us feel as though we are in the film. Every single shot in this trailer has low-key lighting, most of them having extremely low-key lighting. Shadows and silhouettes are used throughout to conceal faces and objects, and create a tense, mysterious atmosphere.

Below is a typical over-the-shoulder shot, showing the character of Harry Brown mid-conversation with a police officer. The use of low-key lighting in this shot signifies the dark nature of the film, and she shadow cast on his face distorts him, concealing facial expressions which could reveal the character's inner feelings.

The shot below is one of few shots in the trailer with the least low-key lighting  elements. This is one of the only scenes we see that takes place outside in daylight hours. The significance of using less low-key effects suggest this scene is more positive than some of the others. We are given the impression that the character in the centre of this shot is a villain within this film, so his arrest is a positive element for the audience to identify with.

 This wide-shot uses almost high-key lighting as it is set in daytime. Although it is showing a funeral, it suggests that the character of Harry Brown may believe death may be better than the gang-culture experienced where he lives, as it is an escape.

One of the shots near the beginning of the trailer uses a hand-held mobile-phone/personal camera to add an effect of realism, as though we are viewing real events. This is incredibly effective and makes the audience feel as though they are involved in the action they are seeing onscreen. The shot is very distorted, and briefly shows someone wearing a hoodie, which has connotations of gang-culture, so we assume this character is a villain.

Many of the shots used are conventional of any film; extreme close-ups to convey emotion and reactions, long/establishing shots to present the location, over-the-shoulder shot-revers-shots to show communication between characters and low-angle shots to signify dominance etc. The clothes worn by most of the characters are dark/black, which works with the low-key lighting/shadows/silhouettes to create a tense atmosphere and represents darkness within the film and its narrative. Not many different kinds of transitions have been used in this trailer, though there are a couple of blank screens flashed up to signify the passing of time/change in location in the narrative. Most of the cuts are straight quick cuts.

Dark clothing also signifies masculinity within the male characters, and their stereotypical lack of interest in their own personal appearance/fashion. Other visual elements used to help the audience identify with genre include the iconography of the guns and car-crash. These are conventional of action/crime films, tying in with the crime theme in this thriller. Thriller films tend to take many conventions from similar genres of films and adapt them to construct something new.

Sound effects are used dramatically to build tension and cause apprehension in the audience. Some diegetic sounds have been exaggerated, e.g. the weapons cocking, to enhance the danger and create fear, possibly causing some audience members to be shocked by it. Non-diegetic music is used throughout the trailer, building to a climax. An instrumental piece with a heavy beat is used early on in the trailer to enhance the action in the narrative and fast-pace of the film. Later on in the trailer, we hear the song "End Credits" by Chase and Status ft. Plan B. Plan B plays the main villian and antagonist in the film, so the use of this music markets to fans of his music if they were unaware of his appearance in this film.

Most of the elements used in this film are conventional in thriller films.

Research: Comparing/Contrasting Magazine Covers Promoting 'Inception'

Inception (directed by Christopher Nolan) was, no doubt, the most successful psychological thriller film of 2010. An entire $100 was spent on marketing the film before its release, and it appeared on various magazine covers.

These two magazine covers have lots of similarities and differences. Both of them have a very similar layout, in that the masthead is located at the top (behind the head of the lead character), the barcode in the bottom right hand corner, the protagonist in the centre of the page with text on both sides and the way in which this character appears to us. Although many of the features are incredibly similar, the effect these different techniques have is quite different. There is much more shadow being cast across Leonardo DiCaprio's character on the Total Film cover, creating a deeper sense of mystery and secrecy. This low key lighting suggests sadness, and although there are elements of this on the Empire cover, Total Film have made this one of their main selling points. The background of this cover is a darker blue, meaning the whole mise-en-scene is quite dark, whereas the background of the Empire magazine is a much lighter blue, which makes the shadowed character stand out more.

Leonardo DiCaprio's character is wearing a dark suit in both images, which is stereotypical of the genre. It is very conventional for thriller/action films to have a white male as the protagonist, so using this character to advertise, it attracts people who are interested in this genre of film (as well as the pre-determined audience already established by the mentioning of Christopher Nolan). The suit is worn by this character to represent who he is - suits are associated with business, intelligence and importance. This suggests that whatever is happening in the film is this character's job, and that he takes it seriously (from the expression on his face). Although both covers show a medium long shot, the angle from which the photo for Empire has been taken from is much lower, representing the protagonist as powerful and dominant. In the Total Film cover, the photo has been taken from a much higher angle, which is actually looking down on him and makes him seem weak/in danger.

Empire has marketed Inception as "the new Christopher Nolan film", and Total Film have marketed it as a psychological thriller. Both covers feature Leonardo DiCaprio on in role as the character he plays in the film (rather than being an interview with him as himself), though neither mentions the fact that he stars in it nor use that fact to sell it. Both covers create a sense of mystery and intrigue the readers.

Research: Film Marketing Research

Film Marketing Survey - Audience Responses from lucybennetta2media

Research: 'Panic Room' - Poster Analysis

Research: 'Harry Brown' - Poster Analysis

Research: 'Donnie Darko' - Poster Analysis

Research: Conventions of a Thriller

(created on Wordle)

Research: Audience Theories

Uses and Gratifications Theory:
"The public actively seek out specific media outlets and content for gratification purposes. Knowledge enhances as well as fulfils certain needs"

People watch thriller movies for enjoyment and to seek thrills for their own personal gratification. Fans of thriller movies seek out specific films within the genre and challenge themselves with anticipation and are able to identify with the on screen characters through catharsis.

Reception Theory: 
"Emphasises the reader's reception or decoding of a text. Focuses on the preferred, negotiated or oppositional readings"

Audience members' reactions to thriller films varies from individual to individual. How each person receives the text will depend on their own personal understanding.

Two-Step Flow: 
"The intended message is directly received an, more importantly, wholly accepted by the receiver"

By using the conventions effectively, the audience should receive the film in the way the film-makers intended. In a thriller, audience members will experience anticipation and danger.

Hypodermic Needle Model: 
"The public form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, that in turn are influenced by the mass media. Ideas flow from the mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population"

Film-makers use conventions to manipulate audiences into believing their ideologies and changes audiences' perceptions of the world.

Research: What is a thriller? Who are the target audience of thriller movies?

Thriller films are very fast paced, and tend to keep the audience on the edge of their seat. Generally, a sense of mystery is created and audience members feel the tension and danger of the narrative and gain an adrenaline rush through watching complex and confusing plots.

Odd camera movements, creepy sound effects, extreme low-key lighting, jump cuts and other quick editing techniques are used to create apprehension and fear within the audience. These are amplified in the trailers, and are condensed to become more effective and heightens the film.

The term "thriller" covers a wide range of sub-genres, which all have slightly different target demographics. Psychological and crime thrillers tend to be aimed at a slightly older audience, due to their complex narratives and underlying meaning, and many of them are rated in the UK as an 18. Many other thrillers (Shutter Island, Panic Room) are rated at 15 due to factors such as language, violence and disturbing settings. Generally, thriller films are aimed at adult males, though many people from other social groups find enjoyment in watching films of this genre. Psychological thrillers are often appreciated by more intellectual people as they are entertained by the complexity of the plots.

In general, thrillers incorporate common elements of many different genres of films (low-key lighting/eery music - horrors, action/fight scenes/use of guns - actions films) and manipulate them to create a new idea and present it in a way that stimulates and challenges its active audience. The combination of different conventions allows for room to experiment in the way films are made, and also to create the suspense and anticipation that fans of thriller films desire.

Research: Genre

From looking at various books, I have researched the meaning of genre and discovered some of the issues with generalising films, but also the importance of audience members being able to identify with genre.

The parts I've underlined are the most important points I've picked out.

The page above explores the meaning of genre and the basic conventions used to create a film in a certain genre.

As we see in the pages above, the main problems with putting films into specific genres is the overlap of conventions. Although many films fit mostly into a specific genre, there will be elements from other genres in most films, and also, not every film in a genre will follow all of the same conventions. It is hard to define the genre of a film because of this, as each film is different. Film marketers will use genre conventions to target a certain demographic, and will mostly market it as just one genre. Generally, a film will include many conventions of a certain genre, or conventions that apply to most genres.

We also see the history of genres. As film develops, as do genres and conventions. Film-makers and marketers tend to adapt to these changes. More and more subgenres are being created and different types of films are being made all the time. When this happens, films will sometimes be marketed as cross genre, which promotes the film to different demographics and audiences.

The pages of this other book further define genre and its meaning, along with tackling the problems of categorising films, and goes into a more detailed explaination of the types of conventions used by film-makers to fit a film into the intended genre.

Research: 'Total Recall' - Poster Analysis

Total Recall (2012), starring Colin Farrell and directed by Len Wiseman, is a remake of the action/thriller/science-fiction 1990 film Total Recall. The poster below was used to promote and market the film before its theatrical release, and uses many tools and skills to attract a specific demographic.

 All of the text on the poster has been aligned to the centre, drawing our eyes automatically to the tagline in the centre of the poster, which anchors the information suggested in the image.  An image of a white male (stereotypical of the genre) is also situated in the centre of the poster, which lets us know that he is the protagonist and main focus of the film. His isolation signifies that his character might work alone throughout the film and suggests that he might be quite lonely. The position of his body (standing up straight, looking down with his head cocked slightly towards his left) suggests he feels as though it’s him against the rest of the world, and he is working for his own agenda. The use of a mid-long shot from a fairly low angle represents his dominance and alludes to the fact that he will probably ultimately have control over any disruption occurring in the narrative and will overcome any struggles he may face, which is also a conventional narrative feature in action/sci-fi movies. In the protagonist’s hand there is a gun, which is an icon of action films and appeals to fans of the genre, complementing the cross between action and sci-fi conventions within the film, marketing it as both genres by using it along with the futuristic setting of the background to capture its target audience. By using London’s most famous landmark (the Big Ben clock tower), we can instantly see that the film is set in London, but the fact that the rest of the background is crowded with other unrecognisable city landscape features, we know that it is definitely set in the future.

The dark blue, grey and green colours have connotations of loneliness and suggest there may be dark/sad elements to the film, including the dark clothing which helps to signify potential sorrow within the protagonist’s inner feelings. This is conventional for action films starring a white male as the main character, which is also stereotypical of its genre and helps the audience instantly identify with what is to be expected from the film. White and silver have been used for the text, which gives a metallic edge to the poster, and re-enforces the futuristic background, whilst contrasting with the other colours that have been used and standing out dramatically. The use of the sans-serif font of the title and tag line is both futuristic and masculine, which identifies with the target audience. By having the tagline “What is real?” in the direct centre of the poster, our eye is drawn to it immediately, and allows us to consider the question it is asking us as we look at the rest of the poster. The largest font on the poster is of the title ‘Total Recall’, which is simple and straight to the point, telling fans of the original movie that it is a remake from the beginning, and summarises everything else we have seen in the poster so far, anchoring it all and making as much sense of it as possible.

Under the title, the vague release date of just stating the season of its release (rather than a specific date) builds up hype around the film is positioned right next to the website (which is written in smaller font size), providing a place for potential fans to go for more information along with the name of the studio that created the film, as a point of research/information for the audience. The lack of credits on the poster, and the lack of Colin Farrell’s name appearing on it suggests that the film is being sold as ‘Total Recall’, rather than ‘the new Colin Farrell film’, and doesn’t overcrowd the poster with too much time, leaving room for our own independent thoughts about the film, which creates suspense and leaves us questioning the film’s tagline “What is real?”, which encourages people to want to go and see the film to find the answers of their curiosities.