Textual Analysis

For my textual analysis i will look at the trailers created for tropic thunder. I have chosen to use these because, although they are fake trailers they empathise the conventions of film trailers to make them more comical.

Scorcher (action)

This is an action film trailer based on the story of the world stops rotating so the temperature rises and turns into armageddon. However, it mentions the prequels to the the actual film it is advertising, which is the 6th film of the series where instead of it being warm the world freezes over.
The trailer opens with the universal production company logo which is a common convention within a trailer so it tells the audience so they can relate to it if they know it will be a good company that has made the film. From this logo, it establishes the shot of earth from out of space and the voice over starts with non-diagetic radio broadcasts played over each other to give more atmosphere and background information on the story of the film. the non-diagetic music is very epic sounding giving the trailer more atmosphere which makes it more intense and gripping.
The camera has a big zoom in from out of space and tracks across fiery plains to a medium close up of the protagonist stood on a cliff in a very epic way. The protagonist has a weapon and a baby in his hands. The gun connotes action and the baby connotes that he is a saviour and a protector which are conventions of a protagonist in an action film.
the film title comes onto screen after the main actors name with a syncronised voice over reading the title of the film at the end of the trailer. After this the star says a small quote.

The Fatties (comedy)

This trailer is for a comedy film called the Fatties which doesn't really have a strong narrative but because its a comedy its main aim is to entertain and make the audience laugh, rather then follow an in depth narrative.
The trailer opens with the new line production company logo which is conventional for a trailer. the trailer then starts with a close up of a fork and then goes to the waiter in a medium close up. The music is quite prestigious and the waiter's accent is french and his clothes are very smart. It then cuts to one of the main characters and as she says the punch line, the music is interrupted by a record needle scratch sound which also connotes that the prestigious of the place is now lost and the comedy starts.

Satan's Alley (period drama)

Simple Jack (drama)

Synopsis

For my film trailer I have chosen to do an action film. The film will be about a vigilante superhero that takes crime into his own hands. It will be dark and very gritty the way that sin city, the dark knight and 300 was filmed.

The protagonist is an ex-marine commando that got kicked out of his squadron because he went insane. But later found help and has to take heavy medication to suppress his anger and rage.

As he left the squad, he knew most of the secrets that the government had and had to keep it a secret. But because of his condition, the government didn't believe he would, so framed him for murder of his wife and child. upset, he finds the people responsible and takes revenge and prevents a few crimes on the way.

There will be a few key scenes in my trailer that will reveal some of the story but not all of it and how it ends. there will be an interrogation scene where the protagonist is almost torturing someone for information. another scene will include the protagonist looking a photograph and having flashbacks of when he found his wife and child dead. The other scenes will be mostly action shoot out scenes with fighting and comic based violence.

Mind Map

Conventions and LLIAR

Language:

The camera angles in my trailer will be very varied. The will range from establishing shot to set locations and extreme close ups and close ups to identify important characters in the film. I will use text and graphics for actors names and the title of the film and it release.

Institution:

This will be the production company, the distributing company and the picture studio. The major ones are

-20th Century Fox

-Paramount Pictures

-Dreamworks

-Son Pictures/Columbia Tristar

-Warner Bros.

Ideology:

Auidence:

the auidence i will be aiming my film trailer at will be an older age bracket so my filme will have a classification of 15/18. it will also be an action film with comic violence and narrative so it will also be aimed at people who enjoy the more dramatised violence and action based films such as sin city and the dark knight.

Representation:

Conventions expected to be found in Film Trailers:

Production company logos

These are always found at the start of every trailer so you can associate the following film with the company as it may have a good reputation for making films which would entice you into seeing it. There can be a distributor logo too and occasionally a green screen with a age warning of the following trailer.

Voice over

In most film trailers there is a voice-over narrating the plot of the film but without going into too much detail to give the film away. The voice is usually a male's voice and is quite husky and low.

Non-digetic music

The music that is played in the film trailer doesn't necessarily appear in the film and is used to make the film trailer more dramatic and memorable.

Names, captions, release and title

In trailers, the protagonists real name will appear in the trailer so you can recognise the actor if you favour him or know he/she is a good actor. There also sometimes quotes from important magazines and critics rating the film which will advertise it more. And also there is a release date which is usually at the very end after the main title of the film.

History of Chosen media

The first trailer was shown in 1912 at Rye Beach, New York, which was an amusement zone like Coney Island, Paramount trailer division head Lou Harris told the Los Angeles Times in 1966. "One of the concessions hung up a white sheet and showed the serial The Adventures of Kathlyn. At the end of the reel Kathlyn was thrown in the lion's den. After this 'trailed' a piece of film asking Does she escape the lion's pit? See next week's thrilling chapter!"

Another one of the first trailers shown was for a musical called “the pleasure seekers” in 1913 which was shown in a US movie theatre in November of that year, created by Nils Granlund. He also created the first trailer for a motion picture featuring Charlie Chaplin in 1914. However the great train robbery in 1903 took the end of the film, which consisted of a cowboy shooting towards the camera and used this as a trailer to advertise the film in cinemas, however this was never meant to be a trailer and was always a scene of the film.

In 1916 paramount became the first studio to officially release trailers and set up a division in 1919 that was assembling previews for all of their upcoming films.

Trailers up until the 1950’s were created by the NSS, national screen service and consisted of various key scenes from the film being advertised.
Early 1960’s montage and quick fast paced editing became popular due to ‘new Hollywood’ and techniques that were becoming a lot more popular.

Brief

A promotional package for a new film to include
-a teaser trailer
-a film magazine frontcover
-a poster for the film