Inception Trailer
This trailer, like a lot of action films, uses loads of shots from the film. Instead of choosing a small amount of very interesting and important shots, they use a lot of action shots to justify the genre. An action film wants to show that it is exciting, however doesn’t want to give anything away on the storyline. This is sometimes because the storyline is very weak; however in this case it’s to save the best for the cinema.
The music used in this trailer is very dramatic and repetitive. Slow-motion shots are used to stress the action, allowing the audience to appreciate the shots. Specific shots are chosen to allow the audience to get a feel for each character, and what their personality is like. It also allows the audience to differentiate between characters, assessing which ones are the most influential and important.
500 Days of Summer Trailer
Interestingly, the voice over begins the trailer by explaining to the audience what the film is and isn’t. He says “this is a story of boy meets girl,” but goes on to say, “but this is not a love story.” This firstly, lets the audience know that this is not a normal love story, therefore people won’t go to watch the film expecting that and leaving disappointed. Secondly, hints to the audience that there is a twist in this romance, which could excite certain viewers.
The trailer also uses the distorted timeline which is one of the main features in the actual film. This gives the viewer an example of what they can expect from the film. It also shows a lot of the comedic moments from the film, underlining that this is a rom-com. However, it also shows how there is a lot of drama in this film, and doesn’t want this to be underestimated when viewing the genre.
The trailer has three different tracks in it, this to create three different moods. For example, the first track used is a very upbeat song and is from a happy part of the film. It is taken from one of the most memorable scenes; therefore if the viewer was to see the film they would remember this.
Similar Product – ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’
Gnomeo and Juliet is an animation, re-telling the Shakespeare classic Romeo and Juliet, which is set to come out in 2011. The trailer for this film suggests that it will be a very comedic twist on the Shakespeare tail which, will interest both young children and adults. In a very similar way to the Toy Story characters, when humans are around the characters are simply garden gnomes which can’t move or talk, however when humans are gone they magically transform into living gnomes.
Even though we can only view the trailer of this film, it can teach us a lot about how gnomes can be very visually humorous, however also being able to carry a serious plot. Our film will differ a lot to this film, for example ours will be a short film therefore giving us less time to get to know the gnome. Also out gnome will be a human, who integrates with other humans, whereas this very different in ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’ where they try and keep their existence a secret.
This film can also teach us how an idea like this can appeal to a mass market of all ages, as it has many levels to it. Jokes can be included which are understood and appreciated by different ages, which have been proved successful by other similar products like ‘Shrek’ and ‘The Simpsons Movie’. Intertextuality in ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’ can be used that only adults would understand from previous versions of this story, and visually funny shots can amuse the younger audience. We can use a similar idea to keep our audience interested, by using these different levels of humour.
Alma – Short Film
This is a short from Pixar about a small girl who sees herself as a doll in a shop window, and can’t stop herself from going into the shop and trying to get it. This film has no script and carries the storyline and emotions through the visual, music, and sounds.
The non-diagetic sounds which have been created for this film makes a huge impression on the audience, and in my opinion could tell the story on its own without any visual. The storyline is very simple, therefore making it simpler to not have any speech, however still has a shocking ending that can be understood.
This short film has a circular narrative, which is something which we could include in our own film. A circular narrative could be a successful one as we are creating a short film, this is because the audience are much more likely to remember the start of the film.
As this is an animation, created by a huge American production company, it would have been much easier for them to make their film visually interesting than it will be for us. For example, they can create things in an animation which can’t be created in real life, such as the children who turn into living dolls.
This is a very good short film, and with over 300,000 views on YouTube, you would have to class this as a successful one as well.
‘Elf’ which came out in the cinema in 2003 is the one existing film, which is well-known by many, that is the most similar to something we are trying to achieve. Even though it is not a short film, it carries many of the same issues we are trying to raise in our film. Just like we want to, the film plants a fictional character into the human world and shows how society reacts to him.
Similar Product – ‘Elf’
‘Elf’ which came out in the cinema in 2003 is the one existing film, which is well-known by many, that is the most similar to something we are trying to achieve. Even though it is not a short film, it carries many of the same issues we are trying to raise in our film. Just like we want to, the film plants a fictional character into the human world and shows how society reacts to him.
This film tells the story of ‘Buddy’, who is the elf, who is brought up in Lapland along with other real elfs. In this environment he is rejected by the other elfs because he is different, being much taller than them like a human. Buddy then decides to leave Lapland and go to New York in search of his real family. When the protagonist arrives in New York we see him in many different comical social situations, for example not understanding how to cross the road. Initially, he is rejected by society because he is different with the way he dresses and behaves. However, once he ‘saves Christmas’ he is accepted being himself not being made to change to fit in.
This film can teach us a lot about comedic situations that the main character can find himself in when tackling society. This film was extremely successful proving that, if targeted at the right audience, it will interest many. However, it is important to note that this film had a very strong Christmas element to it, which automatically interests a certain market who enjoys those types of films.
For the Birds – Short Film
This is a Pixar short film about a group of small birds sitting on the wire between two telegraph poles. A much larger bird then arrives and sits on the wire; the smaller birds then begin to mock the much larger bird and then move up the wire away from him. The larger bird then flies over and lands right in the middle of the pack, dragging the wire down, and frustrating the pack of smaller birds. The smaller birds then gang up on the bigger bird making him fall of the wire, resulting in the wire being flung up into the sky. The smaller birds then fall to the floor with no feathers left on their bodies. The film ends with the bigger bird mocking the smaller birds for having no feathers.
I believe that there is a morale behind this story, and that is to not gang up on the one person in the crowd who is different, because one day you may be the different one and then you will be the one being mocked. Some may believe that this is a film about karma, and that what goes around will always come around, and this is a very quick version of this theory.
Looking at the film as a whole, it does not use any speech throughout, therefore as a comedy it has to achieve all of its comedic value through the visual and the sounds. I believe it does this very successfully. The characters are funny just to look, therefore when they begin to behave in a comedic way the audience are bound the laugh. The creator of this film lets the audience know exactly what the characters are thinking simply through visual and sounds, making the use of language simply unnecessary.
Humour can be created much easier in an animation; this is because they can create things which could not happen in real life. I believe this stresses the importance of editing in our own film, as we need to enhance the comedy element of our film. However, one thing which is in our favour is that are film is not an outright comedy, so we do not need to be making the audience laugh throughout the film. In ‘for the birds’ it was just a comedy with a morale behind it, therefore the comedy element was at the top of the list when it came to their objectives.
