Van Helsing Trailer

Genre of the Film

The genre of this film is action/ horror this is established through the use of the Mise-en-scene, props such as fangs and weapons, theses are stereotypical for a horror/action film.

The audience identify the genre of the film by the editing, as it is fast paced with lot’s of jump cuts in the montage, and by what they use in the shots such as the long shot of when Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) and Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale) are swinging from the castle, this gives the viewer a sense of excitement but also a sense of anxiousness as they scream on the way across. Another example would be the Point of view shot of the vampire flying towards Van Helsing this gives the viewer a chilling thought, as the thought of someone chasing you is bad but chasing you as they fly is worse and sends a nasty chill up the spine as you can see the vampires hands reaching out for him. Mise-en-scene as the costumes of the vampires and the and weapons shows that it’s a action/thriller.

Target Audience

The target audience for this Film I would say is 15-30 age range as the characters in the trailer are around about that age and the content of the film is good for a 15 year old as there is only really jump scares and not any nudity.

They able to target their audience through the props they used like the quick firing crossbow and the different range of weapons. Also through the character’s characteristics such as Van Helsing mystery past and his violence towards evil creatures and Anna’s hatred against the evil creatures bring them together as they fight as one.

Mise-en-scene is the easiest one to identify as the costumes like the long shot of Van Helsing when he was wearing a dark long coat this could reflect that he can’t remember his past or that he himself is a ‘‘evil person’’ as well as the things he is fighting. The vampires wearing the all-in-ones really gives them a creepy aspect this shows the strangeness of them within the film, this is good for a horror film.

Details about the Trailer

The trailer is about 2:26 long this a average for a normal Trailer but some such as 2Guns lasted 3:04 this could have been because of the number of shots they used because in this trailer they used only 77 shots whereas in 2Guns they had about 145 shots which is also over the average.

The transitions used in this trailer were; fade to black this is used a lot through the trailer, this could be because they wanted to create a mystery effect or just to enhance the theme of the thriller genre, fade of white was also used but less often, as it was used to show the monsters this tell us that the filmmakers were pushing the monsters into the light so we could see them and be scared by them or to be worried for the characters within the film.

Another transitions used was flash to white this gives a jump scare kind of aspect to the trailer which reinforces the thriller genre, it is usually companied by a load boom which gives off a freighting effect as it’s unexpected. Also the filmmaker used jump cuts which are normal for a trailer and it gets the audience interested in the trailer whereas if it was all slow then the audience member wouldn’t really take any notice of it.

Diegetic Sound

The diegetic sound of the bells and the singing at the start of the trailer place us in Rome in a chapel probably in the Vatican as there’s a cardinal.

Diegetic dialogue gives the audience a insight to the character as the way they talk or what people say about that person, such as the French police officer saying “Van Helsing..you murderer!!!” implying that Helsing is the evil character in the film as that is one of the first things said on the trailer. In a bit of asynchronous sound where Van says “Why can’t you tell the world the that I work for you” comes a reply of “because we do not exist” which gives the viewer some mystery to think about, the dialogue could be on about that the Catholic faith isn’t real and it just a cover up to hide the fact that they fight unhuman creatures, or that the order is so secretive that it’s not allowed to be spoken aloud even in a empty church.

The dialogue continues tell us where the rest of the film will be set and why he’s going there “We need you to go east, to the far side of Romania. A land of legendary creatures… lorded over by Count Dracula” through out this a couple of shots were shown two were, when he said ‘legendary creature’ a medium wide shot of two vampires around one woman as they go to bite her neck, this is the filmmakers attempt to show the audience what Van Helsing is going into before he does. Then with ‘lorded over by Count Dracula’ tells us that he is the opposite of Van Helsing ‘ying and yang’.

The Dialogue later on explains Dracula’s background with “Dracula was banished to a icy fortress” “Then the devil gave him wings” this is saying that he was lock away so he couldn’t hurt anymore people, so to get out the devil gave him wings to fly out. This tells the viewer that the evil has got the devil on their side.

Non-Diegetic Sound

At 0.37 in the soundtrack changes as the editing changes, they both increase in speed, the mood of the trailer changes also but to a more dark atmosphere, as it changes from a group of people singing to a fast paced guitar rhythm and slow loud drum beat.

The soundtrack changes again at 0.54 after the dialogue of ‘Count Dracula’ this time it changes to strings this gives a spine chilling affect as string can be high pitched and our ears are sensitive to high pitch noises, adding to the theme of horror/thriller.

As the last sounds climax's at 1.34 with the strings all coming together, the next soundtrack starts with the medium two shot which is just two strings playing a mellow tune, this could be because they want the viewer to hear what the characters were saying, the soundtrack builds up again after this shot with more strings and some soft drums this could be explaining that the heart beats can’t be heard over the people screaming or could be the creatures are dead but there is a way to kill them, so the drum beat could be hope.

Relationships

The Relationships between characters such as the Cardinal and Van Helsing is a very work based relationship as the Cardinal is Helsing’s boss. The relationship between Van Helsing and the priest (the man who wears the brown hooded cloak) is also on a work based level as they talk only about Dracula’s background.

The relationship between Van Helsing and Anna is different as most of the way trough the trailer they are seen in a work based attitude towards each other, near the end in the medium two shot they kiss showing some deeper within their relationship.

The relationship between Van Helsing and Dracula is also different as it’s unknown not just to the audience but also to Van Helsing and Dracula say “we have such history” but Van replies with “how do you know me?” implying that he knows nothing.

How does it create a narrative?

It creates a narrative by revelling some of the plot as it’s already a narrative so revelling some of the plot such as Count Dracula and his backstory and this creates the narrative as it keeps the audience interested in the trailer.

The voice over and the dialogue of this trailer is also well done as it tells you where he’s going and who he’s going to face “Dracula” also things about Dracula “no one knows how to kill Dracula” this all builds up tension and anticipation just like the plot would do, and of course with doing this it revels some of the plot like he’s going to fight Dracula and he kills a vampire “ he’s the first person to kill a vampire in three hundred years” also he goes to France at some point probably in the same time as the trailer as France isn’t shown again.

The expectation that the audience would get is that the film is a action-thriller and with all the fast paced editing and action shots like them swinging from the castle, people would have high expectations for the film.

Code of EnigmaThe code of enigma created in this trailer are: Do they kill Dracula? How do they kill Dracula, if he’s unkillable?

What does Dracula know about Van Helsing? Do they all live, at the end? What is that monster thing half way through?

The code of enigma makes the audience member want to watch more so they go out and watch the film in the cinemas.

Inter-titles

Commonly used shots The most commonly used shots in a horror/thriller film is a close up because you get to see the victims face as the scene unfolds all so establishing shots because it makes it more real if you can see were it’s all happening for example someone's house. The most commonly use camera angle for the victim is the high angle shot as it belittles them and for the murderer it is a low angle shot showing their in power, you can see this the shots in France where the police officer is shouting up to Van Helsing is shows that in that situation Van Helsing has the power as the it cuts to Van Helsing he is looking down just pasted the camera showing that he’s overpowering us too.

How Successful was the trailer?

The filmmaker would use a trailer to market their product as a trailer is a really good way to promote the film as it’s more interactive and the audience will be more active.

The filmmaker uses a trailer because it shows more of the plot and of the film it’s self whereas a poster can only show one or two pictures that might not even be in the trailer or film. The trailer can be put on most media platforms even in magazines as no magazines are start to go online where they can put links to videos, so trailers spread and people are more interested in trailers as they have sound as well as images and that’s the big difference between a poster and a trailer the music, that is also the same reason why the trailer is a effective way of promoting the film.

I think it was very successful at targeting it’s target audience as the age group of all the character were about the high end of the target group but I enjoyed it with all the action and with the small amount of thriller behind it, from the vampire and Frankenstein’s monster to Dracula.

10 codes this Trailer has..

Conventions used are:

• Voiceovers are used to tell the background story.

• The stars are showcased in the film.

• Key points placed in Intertitles such as “Adventure” “Lives” “Forever” saying that his story will always be told.

• The action is split up by “ The director of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns” this would increase the target audience.

• The music is a main part in the trailer as it gives the trailer depth and creates that creepy atmosphere.

• The film’s title doesn’t appear till the very end “Van Helsing”

• This trailer has a mini montage then calms down then a full montage till the end and this creates a really good effect, this would draw in the viewer.