Analysing 'Quarantine' (2008) Teaser Trailer

The trailer starts with a still of various columns of different colours with a high-pitched *beep* accompanying it; this usually occurs when a channel has gone off air - it is used in films as a connotation of a disturbing event that affects a lot of people.

The audience is given a brief overview of the situation by receiving the basic plot components from a voice-over from the beginning to the middle.
The trailer is broken down into two halves, one consisting of a military investigation and the other consisting of a reporter joining the investigation.

The first half of the teaser trailer is made to look very realistic, this is achieved through the use of the hand-held camera, torch-lighting, black and white visuals, a fast-forward effect to provide transitions, seemingly factual points stated by the voice-over and the 'REC' symbol in the top left third.

The second half of the trailer focuses on the 'infected' (no term is provided - adding to a sense of mystery -- investigation) and the investigators' reactions to them. This is mainly fear, which is expressed through a shaky camera, diegetic sounds such as screams and cries, and also the lighting - various moments of the teaser are in pitch black, which connotes fear in itself and even more so when it's accompanied with the above.

Various techniques are used to engage the audience, one being the use of the hand-held camera; this plunges the audience into the action on screen and provides a different perspective - also the action/tension is intensified which affects the audience's enjoyment of the trailer. 

Another technique used to engage audience is the direct mode of address -when the character looks at the camera-  used from 0.58 until the end at various points. This simulates interaction with the audience and causes them to sympathise with the fearful character on screen. The trailer also attempts to transfer the fear shown on screen to the viewer, stimulating a fearful or excited response - depending on the viewer's taste. This is  done by showing brief clips of the 'infected' woman coming at the camera in a violent manner - The scariness of these moments is backed up by the shaky camera, reactions of the protagonist and the torch-lighting -- presenting stark detail of infected's face. 

The language of the characters in the teaser trailer represents them as vulnerable, frightened and confused individuals. For example "What was that?", "Lock it Lock it Lock it!", "Oh God, oh my God!" and "We have to get out of here, we have to get out of here!"

Their vulnerability is demonstrated when their difference in roles (1.03 - reporter is interrupted when fireman smashes door open) is contradicted as both the firemen and the reporter are running in fear from the same thing.

- Ben -

Applying Narrative Theory 'Dawn of the Dead' (2004) Teaser Trailer

|Narrative Theory|

Tsvetsan Todorov claimed that there are 5 stages the narrative can progress through, most of which are shown in the teaser trailer for the remake of Dawn of the Dead. A state of equilibrium (1) is established immediately, this is portrayed through the use of ironic music - "It's a wonderful life", and the mise-en-scene which works well with the song; Sunrise (cleverly referring to Dawn..) basketball, implications of sex, hot coffee, dog training and bike riding. 

  A disruption of that order by an event (2) is shown through a transition |Black and white fuzzy on-screen white noise| to a messy-compilation of newscasts about the event. The ambiguity of the event is key to the teaser trailer as it keeps the audience enticed and it adds a sense of mystery to it. Also, the 
  A recognition that the disruption has occurred (3) is shown directly through the main characters watching the newscast. This sets up a whole new stage of the narrative, it gives the teaser trailer a completely different feel in contrast to the calm opening. This next stage is introduced by another transition which comes in the form of a blackout which adds to the tension which was previously created and puts the audience into an exciting position. 
  An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption (4) is what the audience is introduced to next. Repairing the damage, in this case, refers to the killing of zombies and surviving; something which fans of the genre will be pleased to see. The following 14 seconds provides a taste of the action - There are about 6 very brief and ambiguous clips of what the zombies look like, thus maintaining the portrayal of mystery (Roland Barthes - Enigma Code).
  The final stage of the narrative (A return/restoration of a new equilibrium) is not shown, there are two reasons for this; One being it will give too much away, and the other is that there may never be a restoration of equilibrium.

- Ben -

Our 1st attempt to story board our draft of our Teaser Trailer

Analysing Speed and the Day after tomorow trailers using theorists.

Vladimir Propp was a Russian academic who argued that fairy tales could be studied and compared by examining their most basic components. This consisted of 8 different spheres: Villain, Hero, Donor- who provides an object of some help, Helper- aids the hero, Princess - reward for the hero, Father and the False Hero.

Vladimir`s eight spheres can be a helpful aid when it comes to analyzing films and trailers. I applied his eight spheres to the trailer of the blockbuster "Speed"( 1998), the film follows a terrorist who sets a bomb on a bus, a Los Angele's police man is dragged in the situation when he becomes involved with the terrorist. The terrorist straight away takes the role of the "villain" which is made obvious in the first few seconds of the trailers. The most important role in the film and trailer is the Police man who takes the "Hero" role nearly from the start, even on the trailer this is certified many times. The role of the donor is not shown very clearly in the trailer but is made clear in the film, i would say that from watching just the trailer the "donor" is the bus driver as he gives the bus full of innocent people the skill of driving to help save their lives. The helper is clearly the women who helps the police take control in the bus, this being the actor Sandra Bullock, she also aids the policeman as she helps to take control of the situation, as the film develops and as does the trailer it becomes more clear that she is in fact "the princess" or "reward for the hero" as the two develop a relationship during the ordeal.
The father role or section out of the eight spheres would have to be the police chief as he acts the most like a father figure to the hero of the trailer, who is of course the main character. The last sphere is "false hero" now usually this would be applied to somebody who is a good guy and who the audience is usually lead to believe is the hero but are actually being put on the wrong track, as part of the plot. However in this film, trailer i would say that the bad guy is the false hero. In the few seconds that you see his character speaking in this trailer, it seems he speaks a lot about morals, which could therefore show how he see`s himself as a hero carrying a message when in fact he is just a "false hero".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRmhneo5A48 - Link to  "Speed Trailer" .

Todorov is a Bulgarian philosopher now living in France, his theory for films and trailers goes like this: 
1. The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium.
2.It then suffers some disruption
3.A recognition that this disorder has occurred
4.An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5. A return or restoration of a new equilibrium.

This series of events can be applied to many films and film trailers. Such as the trailer for "The Day after Tomorrow". The trailer begins with society at ease with everyday life, but shows slight sense of a disruption however not enough signs to make it into a full disruption of the equilibration, this is everything in society as it should be. The disequilibrium then comes into play by which all the natural disasters begin , and the world begins to suffer as a consequence. The recognition that this disorder has occurred is then portrayed, as clips of various scientists are shown trying to explain the happenings, however it seems that the ones higher up don't want to listen. An attempt to restore the damage of the disruption fits in with the previous stage as in the trailer the scientists try to warm officials that they need to evacuate, they don't listen but they change their mind and evacuate big cities when the situation takes a turn for the worst, this evacuation can be seen as the return to normality or attempt to return. The final clip in the trailer is the famous statue of liberty covered in ice, people are back packing below, therefore showing that this destroyed world is the new normality and therefore covers the final stage which is a restoration of a new equilibrium.

Day after tomorrow trailer link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQDSAiPiEDU

Jack Bakker

I am Legend - Film website analysis

The first thing that came to my attention when viewing the website was the direct correlation between the theme/colour scheme of the website and movie itself. In the movie Will Smith uses what appears to be astonishing technology and futuristic software to achieve his life-long endeavours, I believe this is strongly mirrored in the website, perhaps so the user feels part of the film as he or she navigates through the website. Empathy of the protagonist continues with a special feature of the website, a hexagon on the bottom left hand corner allows the user to change the background by selecting a particular segment. Its clearly aiming to make the viewer feel like they are in the environment of abandoned New York City, and understand the concept that the world is deserted no matter where you look. The final example of how the website incorporates its viewers is through the 'I am legend survival game'. It is likely it has been included to attract a younger audience, as well as those interested in gaming, the intended outcome for those that choose to play it is that they become more excited about the plot of the movie, and again they feel empathy towards the protagonist as they actually get to play as that character. The emotional elements in the film rely on the audience to empathise because it gives it deeper meaning. If one were to imagine a random person that manages to survive what kills everything else on the planet, the immediate reaction wouldn't be to feel that persons pain, but when that character is personified and the audience empathises with their situation, they become more intrigued with the plot. I think this is why elements of empathy have been used so strongly. Another obvious function of the website towards the film's overall success is to try and sell the movie, as well as any ancillary products they have to offer. There is a direct link to the Warner bros website where the DVD or Blue-ray disk can be purchased, and also a range of downloads which merely add to the marketing through wallpapers, pictures etc.

Link to website:
http://iamlegend.warnerbros.com/_main_site/

Stephen

Toy Story 3 Teaser Trailer Analysis

The trailer is 1:43, whilst it is quite unconventional for a teaser trailer to be this long, with such a big release and hype leading up to the third installment of second Top-US Grossing Animation title. This alone would allow any audience over the age of 14 to take an automatic interest in the teaser trailer as it is one of the most anticipated animation films, if not the most anticipated animation films of all time.

The trailer itself, right from the first second of footage induces a familiarity element. Anyone who watched the previous installments will be familiar with the blue cloud filled wallpaper of the room and the small military figurines. I believe that this is a very important sequence in the trailer due to the fact that since it took so long to be released, Pixar would have to play on the nostalgia element blockbuster and hugely anticipated films like Toy Story induce. This in my opinion is so the audience is set up to not expect anything new, however the same formula that worked for the past two previous episodes. In that respect, the first shot is the establishing shot and it enables the audience to immediately relate to it, rather than question what direction the film is taking.

From the 21 second mark, we are reintroduced to the same characters that played in the previous films, this again reinforces the idea of similarity so not to throw the audience off and have them take an active part in following the story line. From this point it promises the same relaxed ride the other two installments offered.
The music, yet again isn't any different to what is to be expected. Calm, slow and relaxing are the same elements that were used in the previous films and worked great, notably 'You've got a friend in me' which boasts 4.6 million YouTube views. The background music stays the same and doesn't reflect any sort of change in emotions when Buzz takes away Woody's limelight, yet again to anyone who has previously watched Toy Story 1 or 2 will know that it has been a trend in the films.

Due to the fact it's animated film, it will no doubt appeal to younger audiences who maybe have not seen/understood the previous films. However this trailer uses the same feel, characters, music and basic character interaction that occurred in the previously films, combined with the fact it has been highly anticipated makes it appeal to an older audience who have seen and no doubt liked the previous installments.

Overall, the trailer is very precise in it's aim, reminding any older audience of what TS was about, and then re-enforcing the fact it is the same fun experience as the previous ones. Whilst also establishing a base for the younger audience to get to grips with the jokey atmosphere of the film itself. Nothing in the trailer was particularly challenging of risky, which plays to Pixar's advantage.

Elias L.