3.2 Advanced Level Brief Option 2: Film Promotion package Film Trailers

AMERICAN SNIPER

 

HOW THE FILM CREATES A SENSE OF GENRE

American Sniper is a biographical war film based loosely on real events and directed by Clint Eastwood.  The trailer has a slow build which clearly demonstrates an interior narrative of the throught process of the sniper when under pressure in the battlefield. The trailer immediately offers the viewer a clear sense of genre which has been created by multiple soldiers prone on a rooftop with snipers. This conveys to the audience that the film is an action/war movie; however, with the scenes being divided into parallel events, linked through cross-cutting and fades to black we understand there is a very strong sub story to this film. During the opening seconds of the trailer eerie silence with only the sound of breath strongly suggests the film will contain drama or potentially turn out to be a thriller.

 

HOW THE FILM INTRODUCES THE CENTRAL CHARACTER and CONFLICT

The conflicting emotions of the central character are made very clear immediately. Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a sniper, evidently the 'American Sniper' of the title; he is the main character within the film, but the trailer develops him in two roles. The main conflict is split between the obvious narrative of terrorism in Iraq, and the risk of punishment if any wrong decision on the battlefield is made. Cross-cutting and fades to black links the narrative between the sniper’s private joy in his family life and his duty as a soldier which may require him to destroy someone else’s family.  

 

HOW DOES THE TRAILER TEASE THE AUDIENCE WITH SUGGESTIONS OF ACTION? HOW IS SOUND USED?

Pulsating sound beats and fades to black create visual and instrumental tension. There is a "will he won't he" opening scene which suggests action will occur rightly or wrongly. The cut is finished with a man on the radio saying 'your call'. This means that the decision to kill a potentially young terrorist is in his hands and he is told that he will be 'fried' if he makes the wrong call. Sound bridges link the two ‘lives’ that he leads throughout the trailer over scenes such as the birth of his child. This is significant as the viewer is able to recognise the tension in the heat of the moment and humanise the main character. The tense music, heavy breathing and communication over memorable times away from his job allows for the scene to be portrayed as much more powerful as the scene is significant to Chris Kyle himself.

 

HOW EDITING INTENSIFIES THE PACE

Rapid cutting and fades to black with sound edits are used between shots that display private family joy and drama, such as his marriage, child’s birth, interlinked with a juxtor position war zone.  It is very clear from the trailer that a decision needs to be made which could threaten his career. There is an extremely obvious increase in pace throughout the editing which heightens the tension. The sound of a pulsating heart beat is present and increases in pace as tension builds. Before he is required to make the decision to shoot down a mother and her son, there is rapid cutting and flashes of his life outside the military with his child, wife and friend in hospital. This adds to the existing tension as it involves his personal life and his professional life which appears to be on the line. A dramatic crescendo is created as tension and drama increases rapidly until the end of the trailer. There is no clear music throughout the duration of the trailer. However, there is an ever present score which gradually becomes louder as the heartbeat increases. This allows for a dramatic affect to be created as the suspense of the trailer becomes more intense.

 

OTHER TRAILER CONVENTIONS

The trailer uses inter titles to advertise star talent – Bradley Cooper. A further inter-title of the single line ‘The most lethal sniper in U.S. history’ establishes the historical and biographical element and lends a seriousness and authenticity to the trailer. The film’s title also displays social media links. Two busy screens then show Warner Bros, the director and other talent like Sienna Miller.

 

GRAVITY

HOW THE FILM CREATES A SENSE OF GENRE

The trailer for Gravity immediately creates the sense of genre from the very first few frames we see.  From the black frames and the stillness with no sound comes the visual explanation by way of text that describes the film.  This alone could serve as a tease to the movie as a stand-alone.  “372 miles above the earth, there is nothing to carry sound, no oxygen, no air pressure.  The text then tells us that ‘life in space is impossible’.  We realise pretty quickly this film is indeed set in outer space and we understand early on that something catastrophic is about to happen.  At precisely about 11 seconds into the trailer the silence is abruptly broken with a crashing sound effect and we see visuals of a space shuttle being hit by high speed travelling debris.  Visually this creates an impactful change in pace and escalates in intensity.  It is a movie about space and the premise of the movie is one of a disaster film. Computer generated imagery (CGI) is used to create the strong sense of genre in a film that would be impossible to create naturally.  The costumes and the space shuttle all add to the clear-cut genre of this movie.  

 

HOW THE FILM INTRODUCES THE CENTRAL CHARACTER and CONFLICT

 At around 13 seconds into the trailer we are introduced to the main character by way of sound.  We hear a voice and we know her to be female.  This character is thrown into an impossible situation.  She’s panicked, she’s frightened and she has lost all emotional control. She is in a helpless situation asking for help.  She is struggling to breath and the viewer will wonder how on earth she can survive.  At around 1’29 we see our first close visual of the main character Sandra Bullock.  The look of fear in her eyes due to the helplessness of her situation is clearly defined and the sense of lost in space is captured well.  At the time when the protagonist feels her impossible situation, we hear a question being asked “is someone down there looking up at you?” She responds and we understand her to have one child.  We see a visual of a photograph of her young daughter. This question engages her attention and takes the story to one of a survival story and the pure will of a mother to live and get home to her family.

 

HOW DOES THE TRAILER TEASE THE AUDIENCE WITH SUGGESTIONS OF ACTION? HOW IS SOUND USED?

 The initial opening seconds are a tease and again as mentioned earlier could be used as a stand alone 10 second trailer as it clearly and cleverly leads you towards an assumption of a disaster movie in space. Sound is vital for this movie trailer to work.  The stillness and quite of the opening 10 seconds are pivotal to create an eerie calm.  Silence is a powerful trick to use in movie trailers as viewers aren’t used to it, so it captures the audience’s attention very quickly.  The opening seconds are gentle, informative and eerie.  Silence can create anxiety in film and this is demonstrated well early on.  The opening scene allows you to breathe whilst being aware that a change is about to happen.  The crashing sound effect at 11 seconds takes the film to the next level of panic.

Sounds at this stage become broken, fast, chaotic and frantic.  It replicates the sound and pace of a thumping heartbeat. It’s a frightening situation we are now in and this is cleverly sound engineered with screams of helplessness from the main character.  We also hear the space station at a more distanced level offering instruction in an impossible situation.  There are two levels of sounds.  A present level as in the character screaming and out of complete control and a level that represents the space station that is clearly out of scene and range, it sounds distant.  Dialogue isn’t particularly clear but it doesn’t need to be in the early stages of the trailer.  It’s important that we feel out of control like the characters we are watching, so picking up clear dialogue at this stage isn’t important.  The sense of the impossible situation with the menacing drone underneath is enough to grasp what is going on.

 At 45 seconds in we hear a scream that fades into the distance.  This is then punctuated by the Warner Brothers ident.  Underneath this ident we hear the impact of what has happened.  They’ve lost Doctor Stone in space.  Shortly after this the trailer then has a little more structure to it sound wise.  We hear clear script between the main character and the instructors at the space station.  Statements are punctuated by clear sound effects to create a sense of urgency and escalating panic and tension.

 HOW EDITING INTENSIFIES THE PACE

The CGI controls the pace and mood of this trailer more so than the actual editing.  Unusually up until 45 seconds into the trailer there are very few edits made considering the action packed visuals we the viewer see.  Beyond 45 seconds we see more of the editors role take place with dramatic fades to blacks punctuated with sound effects and fast paced editing sequences which cross cut the parallel stories behind this film.  There is great use of fades to black which is often used in thrillers and the pace and energy of editing makes you slightly feel out of breath which works given the nature of the story.

OTHER TRAILER CONVENTIONS

 The trailer uses the usual conventions by way of Interrupting the pace with the Warner Brothers ident. This changes the pace for the remainder of the trailer.  It does not introduce talent or the director until after the name of the movie GRAVITY appears right at the end then we see a list which includes director, talent and cast names right at the end which is quite unusual for such box office actors Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.