- 1. What are the typical codes and conventions of film trailers - what information is usually provided?
Typical conventions of film trailers include the inclusion of institutional information. This is usually featured with the use of animation clips of production companies and associates at the start and end of the film. The final frame is usually the release date of the film with social media links to support the promotional campaign of the film. The overview of the trailer would consist of a background track parallel to the genre of the film - i.e. a crime/drama film may use rap music, whereas a rom-com may use pop music. The track would be edited to support the clips displayed, using mise-en-scene consisting of key props and costumes to give a short-hand exhibition of the overall feel of the film. Another key convention is the implementation of text-on-screen with catchy slogans and flash-lines to develop excitement for the film's narrative. Other text-on-screen includes critic reviews to support the film's excellence and present it as a credited production.
2. How are trailers distributed?
One of the most common methods of distributing film trailers is via YouTube channels such as ones created for the particular film/sequel, as well as channels designated for trailers, if not those owned by production companies such as MGM or Universal Studios. YouTube also stream trailers in the form of ads before videos. Trailers are also exhibited before films are screened in cinemas as well as on TV channels during commercials.
3. How does the Ill Manors trailer use trailer conventions?
The trailer commences with text-on-screen with a general quote making a socio-political comment about geographic location and quality of life. This continues onto a close-up of a man knocking the door, featuring mise-en-scene of the man's urban attire and following shots to display the surrounding 'environment' as described in the text-on-screen. The complementing background track derived from the rap genre supports the inclusion of a time-lapse exhibiting shot, over which text-on-screen shows a critic review quote by institution TimeOut. The audio composition also includes key dialogue from the film which underlays the cuts between cinematic scenes from the film. Midway within the trailer consists of animations for the institutions Revolver Entertainment and Microwave, as well as director Ben Drew's personal logo 'Plan B Enterprises'. The remainder of the trailer displays rapid action shots from the film as well as more critic review quotes and text-on-screen intended to further develop narrative engagement. The trailer concludes with the key conventions of the film name 'Ill Manors' being revealed with animated text as well as a frame displaying the release date of the film as well as social media links to support the promotional campaign and act as action cues for audiences to engage with the film pre-release.
4. Who is the target audience? Does it have a unique selling point or use particular techniques to appeal to the audience? Consider the way the scenes are edited together – does the trailer give away any clues about the narrative? Are the main stars visible in the trailer? Is there information about the director of the film? Is there information about therelease date? Is a narrator’s voice-over used? Why?
The target audience of the film 'Ill Manors' can be identified as a primarily male audience from the UK, most particularly appealing to Londoners aged 14-25. The unique selling point of this film could be the relevance of the film's narrative and composition of film conventions to mimic urban London lifestyles. Films as such there is a lack of in the UK because of the overexposure of high-concept Hollywood films, ones which Londoners can not relate to. This is explained by the theory of uses and gratifications proposed by Blumler & Katz, suggesting that audiences may appreciate a media text as they can find 'personal identity' and be able to relate to the messages advocated by the particular media text. This is also relevant to the struggler's psychographic profile and the messages conveyed within the trailer associated to life in poverty-stricken suburbs of London.
The scenes are edited together to exchange rapidly between shots of characters, props and locations to give away the context of the narrative as a gritty story consisting of drugs and violence. The director of the film: Ben Drew is named with the use of text-on-screen using his stage-name, "from visionary artist Plan B"; his Plan B Enterprises logo is also included. There is a lack of a voice-over, this is however substituted by text-on-screen as well as dialogue audio extracts from the film. The trailer concludes with the release date and social media information.
The mise-en-scene is manipulated with regards to costume and make-up as the actors are dressed in urban clothing and many shots display blood and other forms of gore such as scars on the actors. This demonstrates Medhurst's short-hand theory of representation as the stereotypes of urban Londoners are featured in the trailer to instantaneously induce assumptions of the film's narrative and genre in a short amount of time. The exhibited scenes of the trailer display shots such as some of drugs and a prison cell as well as one which shows a young woman leaning into a car dressed in revealing clothing - immediately adhering to the stereotype of a prostitute as shown by the body language and costume of the actor. It can be argued that her revealing attire satisfies the theorised male gaze of an audience as suggested by Gill, regardless of the severity of prostitution - a feature adding to the psychopathic mood of the film.
The scenes are edited together to exchange rapidly between shots of characters, props and locations to give away the context of the narrative as a gritty story consisting of drugs and violence. The director of the film: Ben Drew is named with the use of text-on-screen using his stage-name, "from visionary artist Plan B"; his Plan B Enterprises logo is also included. There is a lack of a voice-over, this is however substituted by text-on-screen as well as dialogue audio extracts from the film. The trailer concludes with the release date and social media information.
The mise-en-scene is manipulated with regards to costume and make-up as the actors are dressed in urban clothing and many shots display blood and other forms of gore such as scars on the actors. This demonstrates Medhurst's short-hand theory of representation as the stereotypes of urban Londoners are featured in the trailer to instantaneously induce assumptions of the film's narrative and genre in a short amount of time. The exhibited scenes of the trailer display shots such as some of drugs and a prison cell as well as one which shows a young woman leaning into a car dressed in revealing clothing - immediately adhering to the stereotype of a prostitute as shown by the body language and costume of the actor. It can be argued that her revealing attire satisfies the theorised male gaze of an audience as suggested by Gill, regardless of the severity of prostitution - a feature adding to the psychopathic mood of the film.
5. How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music/dialogue, camera shots/movements/angles and editing?
The locations featured in the film trailer include the setting of a typical low-cost London suburban house which establishes the assumable financial state of the film's main character, who is displayed knocking on the front door. The trailer also exhibits the setting of a penitentiary, eliciting assumptions of crime being relevant to the film's story-line which is confirmed with the presentation of a basement. The general lighting involved in displaying these locations is usually crepuscular such as that in the basement, whereas outdoor daytime scenes have the typical daylight of London, associated with dullness and monotony. The genre of the film is explicitly established within the initial 20 seconds of the film, solely with the display of the characters and locations.
A time-lapse exhibiting shot is used to show East London - the overall setting of the film, in it's metropolitan glory with the incandescent lights in the night-time. The colour correction used throughout the trailer's duration is generally unsaturated and darker to support the gritty feel of the film's genre, which is now indubitably determined as crime/drama. The only characters with dialogue in the film's trailer are male, a decision which may represent the patriarchy within the society of crime, otherwise referred to as the 'underground' - a structure which is controlled by sociopaths who manipulate and use women for prostitution and drug-related crimes. The characters generally appear to be from a CDE demographic and are dressed and spoken accordingly. This is supported by the under-laying audio tracks of dialogue extracts from the film which consists of vulgarity and aggressive vocal tones.
The editing cuts rapidly in the form of a montage throughout the overall duration of the trailer to support the desired action-packed, riveting feel of the film. It is noteworthy that Plan B's career in music is apparent to the trailer's editing because the cuts are synchronised to the drum beat of the background rap music - which is commonly associated to crime/drama because of it's upbeat rhythm and generally aggressive lyrics. The editor also reverses the play of particular clips in time with the rhythm of the song for visual impact to support the audio. Camerawork throughout the trailer is used to effect accordingly to the mise-en-scene displayed, thus objects such as a watch and pen are shown with extreme-close-ups, whereas settings such as East London's O2 Arena are shown in landscape with an establishing shot. The majority of shots are stationary, however exceptions such as POV shots are shakey and to support the dramatic impact of the trailer as one for a crime/drama film.
A time-lapse exhibiting shot is used to show East London - the overall setting of the film, in it's metropolitan glory with the incandescent lights in the night-time. The colour correction used throughout the trailer's duration is generally unsaturated and darker to support the gritty feel of the film's genre, which is now indubitably determined as crime/drama. The only characters with dialogue in the film's trailer are male, a decision which may represent the patriarchy within the society of crime, otherwise referred to as the 'underground' - a structure which is controlled by sociopaths who manipulate and use women for prostitution and drug-related crimes. The characters generally appear to be from a CDE demographic and are dressed and spoken accordingly. This is supported by the under-laying audio tracks of dialogue extracts from the film which consists of vulgarity and aggressive vocal tones.
The editing cuts rapidly in the form of a montage throughout the overall duration of the trailer to support the desired action-packed, riveting feel of the film. It is noteworthy that Plan B's career in music is apparent to the trailer's editing because the cuts are synchronised to the drum beat of the background rap music - which is commonly associated to crime/drama because of it's upbeat rhythm and generally aggressive lyrics. The editor also reverses the play of particular clips in time with the rhythm of the song for visual impact to support the audio. Camerawork throughout the trailer is used to effect accordingly to the mise-en-scene displayed, thus objects such as a watch and pen are shown with extreme-close-ups, whereas settings such as East London's O2 Arena are shown in landscape with an establishing shot. The majority of shots are stationary, however exceptions such as POV shots are shakey and to support the dramatic impact of the trailer as one for a crime/drama film.
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