Film Trailer Conventions

 Film trailers follow many conventions and rules, these can vary depending on how modern the trailer may be or the genre of the film. I have chosen several trailers and analysed them to look for the common conventions used and how they can effect the audience. Modern day trailers differentiate from past trailers through the uses of different conventions and have overall become much more gripping to audiences.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was highly anticipated by worldwide, the epic finale to a ten year film series and was presented in two films. There were multiple trailers to the final films to the series. I chosen this trailer as it covered both films and also included many interesting and common conventions of film trailers. Firstly, the trailer opens with the film’s distributor, Warner Bros. Pictures with a dark, cloudy setting that projects pathetic fallacy of the dark themes within the film. The trailer includes a huge variety of camera and angle shots to create a climatic atmosphere, this allows for the audience to get immersed in the trailer and for excitement to build around the release. Close ups of the characters/actors expressions communicate the feelings of surprise, action and suspense and make the audience want to know what happens next.

 The sound used in the trailer includes both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The non-diegetic sound is incredibly important in the trailer as the slow paced music at the beginning and the much more fast paced and dramatic music towards the middle and end of the trailer contrast one another and adds expectationally to the trailer’s tension and builds up intensity for the film. The fast pace music helps to fit with the fast pace editing and transitions within the trailer and this pulls in the audience’s interest. Diegetic sound includes the film’s dialogue (“only I can live forever“) this dialogue does however turn into a voice-over for the trailer.

 The setting, colours and lighting of the special effects contrast with one another could connote and communicate the magic of the film and the trailers theme of good vs evil, light vs dark. This allows for the trailer to stick in the audience’s mind and enable it to stand out against other trailers. Another convention that the trailer follows is showing the release date(s) which tells the audience how long they have to wait, perhaps adding to the excitement.

Regression

Regression is a 2015 psychological thriller that stars several well-known, successful and respected film stars including Emma Watson, Ethan Hawke and David Thewlis. These actors alone create hype around the film as a way of celebrity endorsement, giving the film a much wider audience across age and interests. The trailer, much like Harry Potter, has dark lighting and a dark setting, following the general conventions of the dark themes of thrillers. The editing of the trailer begins rather slow, bringing the audience into a false sense of security before its pace becomes much faster and intense after the drama and action in the film is shown. The transitions used in the trailer begin slow, fading and then cut quickly towards the end of the trailer when the action is shown.

 Again, the sound within the trailer is a large part of the genre and also the audience’s reaction to it. The rhythm of the non-diegetic music follows almost like a heartbeat increasing (similar to Insidious’s trailer) which could perhaps be used in order to get the audience’s heart racing and could connote the audience’s immersion during the film. The editing follows along with the music’s rhythms which is very effective way to build tension through the trailer. Diegetic dialogue communicates several of the plot’s main points to the audience, giving them information of the film. There are few camera shots in the trailer but nevertheless the close ups and clear facial expressions from the actors communicate the film’s emotions clearly to the audience and suit the film’s genre of thriller. Overall the trailer gives the audience an idea of the plot and increases excitement around the film through the uses of non-diegetic sound and the actors involved in the film.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner is a 2014 dystopian science fiction film, based upon the novel by James Dashner by the same name. Already being released as a novel (much like Harry Potter) the film already had a large audience that anticipated an outstanding film. The trailer overall showed a lot of the film’s action through a variety of camera shots and camera angles. The editing was constantly kept fast, matching with the non-diegetic music and fitting perfectly with the action-packed plot. The lighting and setting contrasts – the light and brightness of the ‘Glade’ (the large grassy area) against the darkness of inside of the maze.

 The lighting in the beginning of the trailer is dark and gloomy with blue undertones along with florescent white, these colours together give the trailer a harsh and cold tone. The beginning of the trailer makes the audience question – What is the boy doing there? Where is he? Did he do something? The trailer is extremely effective in making the audience want to watch it, through unanswered questions and high anticipation.

 Overall, modern day trailers place a large emphasis on non-diegetic music to create excitement. They are also leading away from away non-diegetic voice-overs and are instead using dialogue from the films to act as the voice-over. Common features that run through trailers include a large variety of camera angles and shots, showing scenery, setting and most importantly the characters and their facial expressions. Also, depending upon the genre, the editing and music is kept fast paced and dramatic to hook the audience and make them want to find out what happens in the film, it makes the trailer much more effective and stands out. Genres such as romance and comedy may not follows these conventions however. Based on this analysis, I will place a focus on the non-diegetic music used and make sure that it sets the atmosphere and will also be aware of the lighting and setting and how that may reflect the plot of the film.