Textual Analysis: Film Trailers 1

Task

2007-10-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

Your task is to analyse and compare two film trailers. All the information you need is contained in this blog, including, guidelines, hyperlinks and video clips.

You will be analysing The Karate Kid trailer as your historical text and The Matrix as your contemporary text.

Your essay should be a maximum of 750 words and you should make sure you attempt to compare and contrast the style of the trailers throughout your analysis.

Don't forget to check out the marking scheme before, during and after you have written your essay.

The essay should be sent by Simplyclick to the relevant member of staff,

Good Luck!

Click here to see lesson powerpoint

Production

2007-10-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

In no more than 100 words, answer the following question...

1. Which companies produce the films?

2. Briefly summarise the history of each company and make reference to other films they have produced.

3. Look in detail at Sony and Time Warner, are there any examples of vertical or horizontal intergration?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=438250678

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

Marketing and Promotion

2007-10-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

1. Think of all the different ways in which the films could have been marketed and promoted.

2. Keanu Reeves is a very famous actor, what do we call famous actors who help the process of marketing a film by their notoriety

3. What ways of advertising were available to the marketeers of The Matrix, that were not available to to the people who had to market Karate Kid?

Think about new technology and increasing media outlets.

It is also important that advertisers have a clear sense of genre, this helps them market the film.
How might the forms of advertsing and merchandising change, from genre to genre?

Regulation

2007-10-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

Which organisation decides upon ratings for films in Britain?

What different certificates can films be given?

Which 8 categories come under consideration from the BBFC?
Categorisation hyperlink.

Choose one of the categories give an example of the kind of questions the BBFC consider.

What certificates were given to the films we are looking at?

Why is it important that we certify films?

All the answers can be found by clicking on the link below...

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

AIDA:

2007-10-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

All media texts are constructed carefully. Nothing is there by accident. The media present things in the way they choose.

All media texts attempt to ATTRACT US by grabbing our attention in some way. For example, in a trailer this could be the title sequence, including loud sounds and fast moving action. Media texts then need to keep our INTEREST by using persuasive techniques and language. They might also use enigmas to keep us puzzled so that we carry on watching/reading/listening.

The trailers must create a DESIRE in us to want to go and watch the film. How is this done?

Finally, media texts try to get us to take some ACTION. By telling us when the film is out and how we can find out more. (Websites)

When you want to talk about the visuals (pictures), cover as many of the following as you can :

People
Location
Objects
Dress
Camera shots, angles, movements
Editing
Lighting
Effects
Graphics

When you want to talk about the voices, consider the following :

Volume
Accent
Tone
Speed
Pitch

When talking about the music, think about :

Is it a music bed
What is the tempo like?
Is it diegetic or non-diegetic sound (diegetic sound is sound that is part of the plot – can actually be heard by the actors). Non-diegetic sound is ‘outside’ the story, for example music beds/incidental music)

The other sounds include :

Silence
Ambience – background sounds
Actuality – sounds from the event, played on their own to set the scene.
Sound effects – can be either diegetic or non-diegetic.

You can cover everything about the visuals by using the above list (plodcamedleg)

The ‘copy’ means the writing. Consider :

The fonts – serif or sans serif?
The words – why are certain words used?

So… now you can identify the actual signifiers but how can you talk about them? It is no good just listing them. You must say how they are used together (create the mise-en-scene) to create certain representations for the target audience. What are the connotations of these signifiers? The following words can help you to cover important media areas, but you don’t need to use them in any specific order. Tick them off as you use them in your analysis.

Preferred reading – the actual meaning intended by the producer of the media text.
Primary/secondary target audience.

Juxtaposed/juxtaposition – how and why are opposites placed together (eg. light & dark)
Anchor – how is the meaning fixed, or is it?

Mode of address – the style of the text (comic, serious, formal, informal, direct, indirect)
Polysemic – not anchored or fixed, but open to many different interpretations)

Enigma – a puzzle to keep us involved

Genre

2007-10-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

How can we tell what genres the films are? Can you spot the codes and conventions which help us understand the genre of the film?

Can you spot any,

Cultural/Symbolic/Historical Codes?

What about PLODCAMEDLEG?

Why is it important that audiences can ascertain what the genre of the film is in the shortest possible time?

Is the film a mix of several genres? What do we call this?

wiki/genre

mediaknowall/genre

Narrative

2007-10-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

Can you spot any key elements of narrative in the trailers? Although they are only trailers, you may be able to associate some narrative theories with what you see. You may also see elements of narrative that are hinted at, that take place in the actual film, this is the producers way of trying to get you to buy into the genre and appeal to your desires.

Narrative theories to look out for:

Vladimir Propp = Hero/Villain/Helper/Damsel-in-distress

Todorov = Equilibrium/Disruption/Resolution

Enigmas (Why are they so frequent and so important in film trailers?)

Single/Multi-strand narrative

Open/Closed narrative

Chronological/Non-chronological

Linnear/Non-linnear

Todorov

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

mediaknowall/narrative

Audience

2007-10-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

In this section you must consider who the audience are and how they react to the texts.
remember, a trailer is essentially an advertisement.

Consider the following:

Primary secondary target audience

The Uses and Gratification Theory

The preferred, oppositional and negotiated reading.

U&GTheory

mediaknowall/audience

aberaudienceu&gexplained

Conclusion

2007-10-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Conclude your essay with a short paragraph that considers how film trailers have evolved over the years and how this is apparent in the trailers you have analysed.

Marking and Assessment

2007-10-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Check out the marking scheme and assess what grade you think your work deserves...

Have you covered all the relevant points?

(Click on the images above to enlarge)

Have a read of this essay about the Matrix. It may give you some final ideas befor you hand your work in....

matrixanalysisexample