What is a Trailer? What is a Teaser Trailer? (The Secret Life of Pets, The Hateful Eight, Mockingjay Part 2 & The Woman in Black)

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS

From watching this without looking at the title you can automatically tell this is a teaser trailer rather than the official trailer for the produced film, this is because the teaser trailer goes straight into a brief character voice over whereas in the official trailer the voice over is much more detailed. The teaser trailer reveals a variety of characters in less detail whereas the official trailer focuses in detail on the characters that drive the plot

This teaser trailer starts off with only one scene before showing the distribution company logo accompanied by a non-diegetic soundtrack then straight into what the film is about with the following question 'what do your pets do while you're out?'

With the teaser trailer you never really see the owners face while they are saying 'bye' to their pets putting the main focus on the pets, I like this idea because it shows how the pets act while their owners are around before it all changes to get the insight of 'The Secret Life of Pets'

From watching the trailer to this film you can see that the film is told in a classic narrative. Where the story is told it suggests that the story is told in chronological order starting with the equilibrium, where the pets are seen with their owners living happily with no disruptions to the disequilibrium, where an issue starts to occur such as a new pet being brought into the family to recognition, where the characters start to notice the issue then to reparation, where the characters are finding a way to solve the issue lastly the new equilibrium, where the characters have solved the issue and are on happy terms with the new terms.

The text in this teaser trailer goes well with the theme of the film such as the colour scheme, this gives it a friendly, child like attraction which also reaches the target audience of children. As well as this I think that the size of the text is also a good match because it is simple and readable where as if it was too big it may throw the audience away where as if it was too small the audience may not be attracted to it.

This trailer also has the ending image as how the film is seen as starting, with the main character facing towards the door waiting for his owner to come back. However, I liked this idea because around the image shows different ways of distribution this film has such as over social media.

THE HATEFUL EIGHT

Instantly as this trailer begins a soundtrack is used as non-diegetic sound which builds the suspense of the audience, the soundtrack starts to build up tempo to a stop as the characters voice is then the only sound you hear. As well as this diegetic sound of horse feet clicking on the ground gets louder as well as the tempo of the sound, this engages the audience.

The effect edited onto the scenes give off low key lighting which fits in well with the mood and atmosphere of the film; especially how the weather is throughout the film. Consequently the use of chiaroscuro lighting is also used which gives deep shadows and bright highlights which arouses the sense of suspension, fear or concern for the views. Adding from this the characters are wear simple but dark coloured clothes such as the main character in the trailer is mainly in a black long coat with a ragged scarf, most of the other characters are dressed fairly similar with thick coats, hats and scarfs.

From this trailer the location for most of the scenes shot is in a studio where its purposely built for the film, filled with props to make it look like the era this film was set in. There are a variety of props that are used seen in this trailer, the majority are of guns, cigars and glasses filled with alcoholic beverages. 

Throughout this trailer similar shots and angles were shown, majority of the shots were extreme close ups or mid shots. However, there was the use of a extreme long shot where the setting is also seen while the characters are very small within the frame, making the characters appear isolated or given a sense of bring watched. This makes the audience feel included as if they were watching the characters.

The font and size of the text for this trailer fitted well with the film, I think that the colours also used worked well. The white but grey background with the black font colour with hints of white worked well with the contrast of the colours in the film (dark). However, the first set of text to come across in the trailer had a red background which I didn't particularly like because it made the trailer look untidy or as if there was an error made, this is because when the rest of the font appeared it was all the same with the white and black colours. 

After watching this trailer you know that the genre of this film is a action thriller, this is because at the beginning the main character is sitting on a pile of dead bodies as well as this, a line from the script that is shown in this trailer was "wanted dead or alive."

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Just before this trailer starts there is a preview of the certificate to prove that the following trailer that the viewers are about to see has been approved and appropriate for viewing. I like this because it gives the audience a sense reassurance that they're not about to view something that is illegal or something that they may find unpleasant. As well as this the disturbing company logo is then shown to the audience, 'Lionsgate' is a well known distributing company therefore this makes the audience feel more at ease to know that a big well known company is linked with this film therefore it will be in good quality as well as a good film.

This trailer starts off with a non-diegetic soundtrack that plays underneath the main diegtic sound of the main characters dialog. As well as this they have edited a faint sound as the audience in the film are clapping this emphasises the happy atmosphere of that part of the film.

The era of this film is meant to be set around 2070 therefore a lot of the technology and props that are used in this film are made to look like something we'd have in the future such has the arrows that Katniss carries around with her. As well as this the costume for some of the characters stand out and may come across unusual such as big puffy coats and extended eyelashes in different colours however, throughout most of this trailer you see more of the characters dressed in more dull and simple colours expressing that they don't have enough money from fancy clothes; this also tells the audience the difference between the working-class (families in the districts) and the middle class (families that live in the capital).

From this trailer you can tell that this is a action si-fi movie. Levi-Strauss believed that the world was split into a series of 'binary opposites'. Essentially, one thing can only be defined in relation to something it isn't. One side is represented as the 'right' side who the audience can identify with and support. For example, good and evil. However, in addition to this Propp's theory, is that character types are established to increase understanding from the point of view of the audience. For example, the hero (Katniss) who seeks something such as going after Snow and the vllain (Snow) who wants to obstruct the hero.

From this shot it looks like a lot of technology skills where used however most of these scenes were in a studio where it is purposely built to shoot this film. 

A variety of shots were shown throughout this trailer most of them being the over the shoulder shot which showed a conversation between two characters. Shots also included establishing shots, extreme long shots, close ups and low angle shots making the character appear strong, in control, intimidating, or fearful. 

Lastly the text from this trailer goes well with the meaning of the film. Such as, the bits of flame that float around and inside of the frame representing the meaning of 'The girl on fire' as well as this the colours chosen (burgundy and yellow) are colours like fire therefore the audience has a better understanding of the film. The size of the text is at a readable size therefore doesn't throw off the audience from the film.

The Woman in black

To start off the trailer of this movie there is a non-diegetic soundtrack of a misty sound suggesting that the genre of this film is a thriller/horror, as well as this starting off with a long shot filled with old kids toys, showing the audience that this film is about children and leaves them to think whats happened to the children, seen as children are seen as innocent and vulnerable. The soundtrack still plays on underneath as a child's mobile song starts to place accompanied by a young girls voice over, a reading of a poem about the film. The tempo gradually starts to increase while more shots of the film are ravelled.    

 

The way the text is shown in this trailer links very well into the story of the film. Such as the writing is in a font that looks like someone has written neatly on a condensed window, leading onto the main image of the window. The window draws a lot of questions, where you can see out at everything but can never see much through it, there are many scenes shown in this trailer where there is someone looking out a window.

The costume in this trailer was the type of clothes worn in late 19th century / early 20th century. Men would walk around in suits and women wearing dresses while little girls would wear old victorian style dresses and boys in quarter length trousers, shirt and a cotton knitted jumper. this tells us the era of the film. 

The effects added onto this movie gave away the genre of the film. For example, they used a cut which is a sudden change of shot from one angle to another, cuts are often made every 7-9 seconds. This seas used to change on scene to another, to view the scene from a different angle, to reduce the length of a scene, as well as maintain tension and imply fast action. In addition the majority of the lighting throughout this trailer was given in a low key lighting which also emphases the fear of this trailer. The use of chiaroscuro lighting is also used which gives deep shadows and bright highlights which arouses the sense of suspension, fear or concern for the views. Daniel Radcliffe is shown as the main character not only by seeing him in many of the shots but also the text writing of his name to engage the audience.

A variety of shots were used such as close ups, mid shots as well as different angles, however, one shot that got my attention the most would be the extreme long shots. This is because these shots made me feel isolated and excluded from everyone else specially the shot of the horse and carriage riding through the marsh, portraying the fact that if you were in trouble then no one would be around to help you.