Inspiration for our trailer

In reference to The Number 23, The Lovely Bones, and Shutter island

How can elements of these trailers be used in

creating your own? (themes, characters,

shots, sounds, and mise-en-scene).

The Number 23Themes - The past repeating its self, the unknown enemy, the psychological aspect, obsession, murder, coincidence, madness, fantasy becoming reality. Sanity VS Insanity.

Characters – Walter Sparrow, main male character, shows his demise through the film. Walter is played by Jim Carrey who is a very well known actor making him the USP, however, this is risky as he has a completely different fan base. The trailer also introduces his wife and his son, making it a family setting.

Shots – Started with long shots, with very slow cuts and editing. However, by the end the shots were extreme close ups to show characters emotion. The shots follow the protagonist.

Sounds – Atmospheric Music. Soft introduction music, dialogue of characters, music built as more was revealed in trailer, by the end it was fast paced action music to reflect the images.

Mise – en – scene – Lots of references to the title of the film through everyday objects such as books, blackboards, graffiti. Family home, emphasis on kitchen and bedroom as knives are used in kitchen. In the flashback sections the objects change due to the time zone changes, for example fashion changes. The lighting tends to be darker in the kitchen area when there studying the book more.

The Lovely BonesThemes – Afterlife, murder, perverts, serial killer, obsession, investigation, surrealism, hate, pursuit, curiosity, memory, detective, family relationships, hope,

Characters – Protagonist: Susie. Trailer introduces parents and other family members such as the siblings and grandparents. It also introduces her love interest ray. And the villain, however his face is not shown till the end of the trailer to create tension and interest.

Shots – There is an inverted over the shoulder shot, which creates depth to the shot as instead of only seeing one characters expression, we see both characters due to the use of a mirror. There is also close ups to show emotion and long shots to establish the setting.

Sounds – Use of voice ( introduces us to the character – she says ‘’I’m 14’), and background music(Brian Eno – famous musical producer). School bells – realistic sounds of a school girl. Pedestrian Sounds. Stormy sounds, gives a more eerie and horror feel. Uses songs from a soundtrack, with words with differentiates from other horror films.

Mise-en-scene – Sunny start to show happy start. Main field is emphasized in trailer sense of being secluded. Villains house and safe are shown meaning they must play an important part in the story line, Villains house is dark compared to the child’s house showing the difference. Significant object that links the character to the murder is a little hat which is shown as its personal and been knitted by her Mother making it more horrific.

Shutter IslandThemes – Islands – secluded, disappearance, insanity, institution, memories, surrealism, massacre, medical testing, trauma, illusion.

Characters – Main character teddy Daniels, is played by Leonardo DiCaprio who is a famous American actor which could act as the USP for the film. We are also introduced to Chuck. Nothing is mentioned about Teddy’s family.

Shots – Close ups on Teddy's face to emphasize that it is Dicaprio. There is an establishing shot of the island and the location/set to emphasize that it’s a key part of the plot. There is not much character development in the trailer.

Sounds – Dramatic rain and storm sounds. Voice to carry the narrative forward. Voice of DiCaprio, to carry narrative and emphasize its him. Striking of a match emphasized. Steel doors are used to make big crashing noises to make everything sound more dramatic.

Mise-en-scene – Lots of views of the island, it is grey rocky looks empty and secluded/dirty. The hospital is an off white colour making it more creepy. The costumes are all boring and dull colours, nothing bright is used suggesting the plot is more serious and the inmates of the hospital is institutionalized emphasizing the theme.

How is the narrative portrayed in the trailers? Linear,

flashbacks, cross cuts. How can you use them in your

trailer?

The Number 23The shots linger anytime the number 23 is on screen

Flashbacks (really vital to the story – all about flashbacks and past life, the past catching up with you)

Cross cutting goes between the present and the past to the point where your unsure which is which anymore

The cuts were very fast suggesting a high speed story.

The past repeating itself is quite a common in horror. For our trailer, we

could use newspapers and articles or a radio news broadcast. The fast cutting creates tension and would work really well in any horror film as it makes the

story seem more interesting.

The Lovely BonesCross cuts to the ‘in-between’ where your not alive or dead (Susie’s Narrative)

Cross cuts to the current time and this carries the dads narrative forward along with Susie where she is in both places.

Flashbacks to the parents talking to the murderer, this is emphasized as it’s the first meet with the killer.

The use of hindsight when Susie walks home a different way or wishes she hadn’t accepted the offer of a drink, the audience don’t want her to do it and this creates tension. This is shown in the flashbacks and could definitely be used in our Trailer.

Shutter IslandThe cross cut which goes from reality to one shot where Teddy is hugging a woman made of ash. This is unexpected and develops themes of insanity. It is randomly put in a group of action shots, which makes it random yet really effective.

Really quick cutting to build suspense and add excitement and gives lots of different shots of scenes.

The random cut of the scene is subliminal messaging and it makes you jump and remember it, which is something we would like to look into when creating our trailer. The quick cutting is also very effective and we noticed this in all 3 trailers.

Who is the target audience and how

does the trailer appeal to them. Give examples and look at how this will effect

your trailer.

The use of Jim Carrey was a risk for the film, as the target audience are used to seeing him doing a comedy film. However, if they were his fans, they would have gone anyway. As the close ups are all of him this attracts the fan base.

Horror lovers are also going to be attracted to the movie due to the killing and story line. The inter titles colour scheme is always red and black which is typical of the horror genre which will also attract the horror fans.

We will take onboard the colour scheme used in The number 23’s trailer, as it

suits the conventions and will attract the right audience.

The Number 23

More intellectual horror, as it is taken from the book so literature fans may go to see this.

It would appeal to a younger audience as it is not gory, and due to the younger main character this attracts younger teenagers.

The actors are quite well known so their fan bases will also watch the film.

As our film is based on a true story we will also require a more intellectual audience. However, as our storyline is based on a true story from the 80’s, our target audience will perhaps not be as young as the lovely bones, however we will update the story to make it more modern.

The Lovely Bones

Leonardo DiCaprio has a huge fan base which are mainly girls. meaning the film will have a guaranteed audience, who are DiCaprio’s fan base.

In the trailer we see a lot of action and adventure, and is more hands on than the other trailers, therefore it could also attract Action fans such as teenage boys.

This film is more mainstream meaning the advertising would have been better also attracting anyone to see the film.

We don’t have access to any well known actors, so we cannot use this in our film. As our film is a psychological horror we will not show any action as the film itself wont contain much.

Shutter Island

Who does this trailer represent? Social

groups, age, gender, ethnicity? Who will you represent in yours? (consider

stereotypes)

Both Shutter Island and The Number 23 focus on male protagonists who are over 30, trying to discover their pasts while protecting their present state. They are both white Americans and both middle class.

The Lovely Bones focuses on a 14 year old girl as the protagonist. This goes against the conventions of a standard horror films as the narrative of horror films are not usually this young and vulnerable. She is white American and middle class. The film is set in the 70’s which changes the representation of character.

We like how the Lovely Bones goes against the standard horror conventions, and we are going to use this in our trailer by focusing on a Woman as the villain instead of a male like

in Shutter island and The Number 23.