Codes and conventions ofTrailers

Typography

As you will see on the next slide, the typography tends to be sans serif and bold in order for the audience to be able to clearly read the text. Also the typography will

often reflect the genre of the film, for example for straight out Compton, the typography is done in the cd warning style in order to emphasis the basis of the

films storyline to the audience.

At the beginning of the majority of trailers which I watched the production logo tends to appear first, this is show audiences have expectations about the films genres, however an exception to this is the film: Steve Jobs: The Man in the machine, this is so we know who the film is about and

the production logo appears after we are introduced to Steve Jobs through a series of crossfades. Another reason why the production logo is placed at the beginning is so the audience can gain an idea of how big the film budget is.

A code and convention which is common within the genre of

drama is, the feature of, Academy award…, this is so the audience know that the film is going to

deliver a high standard of acting and so the audiences can

familiarise themselves with the actors/directors name. Also

another common convention in dramas are film critics quotes, this is because if the film has a quote

from empire magazine, for example, the audience know the

film is going to be of a high quality standard.

Another convention is being introduced to the main characters through mid-shots and close-ups, close-ups tend to be used on famous actors as this can be the ‘pull’ factor for an audience

member to pay attention to the trailer and then go on to watch the film.

Intertitles,., the intertitles which feature the directors/actors name will normally feature near the end, however in the man from U.N.C.L.E, the directors name appeared at the beginning this creates expectations for the audience. Also in some of the trailers, such as concussion the actors

name appears with a clip of them so the audience recognise the actor, fi they aren’t familiar with their name.

The title of the film tends to appear near the end of the film, one reason for this is because if the title was at the beginning the audience could forget the name of the film as they would be focusing on the action

whereas if the title is near the end the audience is more likely to remember the tile of the film which means they have a higher chance of watching the film.

The billing block will appear near the end of the film, this is a legal

requirement as it features, the film studio, the film’s title, who’s

involved etc., this also allows the audience to find out any additional information about the film which again could be an an encouraging factor for them. Also to make it easy to read the text is in poster

sans serif. .

At the end of the trailer the release information tends to appear last this is so the audience can remember the date or time period of when the film is being released, additionally to this the release information tends to feature social media links so the audience are encouraged to find out more information about the film. Also

by stating that the film is in 3D could encourage the audience to watch the film, as this is could be seen as the USP for the film.

Other codes and conventions

Editing:In trailers the editing tends to be quick cuts,

with the use of fades to black or crossfades in order to prevent confusion for the audience. Additionally particularly in action the pace of

the editing tends to get quicker to build anticipation and excitement for the audience.

Dialogue:All of the trailers I watched apart from walking on

sunshine used dialogue extracts from the film in order to tell the story to the audience, this also allows the

audience to be introduced to the characters of the film. The dialogue has to be carefully selected so not to

much of the narrative is given away to the audience. A voiceover is used for the intertitles in walking on

sunshine in order to build excitement for the audience.

Music:The music can reflect the genre of the film as well as setting the tone of the film for the audience. The music can also aid to reflect the pace of the

film. The music can also be a budget indicator for the audience because if an artist has been

commissioned to make the soundtrack for the trailer this can indicate how much money has been

pumped into the actual film.

Footage:The clips which are shown are

handpicked in order to give the audience a taster of the film without giving the

entire plot away. A trailer is a compaltion of all the ‘best bits’ of the film, you could link this to the hypodermic syrine theory

because the producers are persuading the audience to watch the film by

‘injecting’ them with footage which will encourage them to go onto watching the

film.