Trailer Analysis 3
To get a better understanding of what to include in our movie trailer I am going to analyse some different trailers that relate to the chosen genre and look in detail at the different features. As I have already looked at some of the conventions of a film trailer I have an idea on what to look out for.
The first film trailer that Callum analysed is for Matrix, an action science fiction film released in 1999.
I started by focusing on the conventions of a film trailer, and seeing if this trailer followed them, the first convention that I looked at was the time and length of the trailer. The trailer lasts for exactly two and a half minutes, which is slightly longer than a conventional movie trailer. However, this trailer is very detailed and helps to explain the confusing plot to the viewer as well as show off some of the films best action scenes.
Once the trailer had started I began see that it did followed many of the conventions I had researched, starting with the first scene of the trailer which shows the Warner Bros pictures company logo. Showing the logo at the start of trailer follows convention as Warner Bros Pictures was the distribution company for the Matrix film. However, the Warner Bros Pictures logo is the only company referenced and does not advertise any of the production companies for the film with the primary company being Village Roadshow Pictures.
After the logo, the trailer continues to use conventional features as it the next shot is a caption on the screen that the audience can read. The caption is written in a green glowing font on a black background which recognisable of the brand and franchise. The trailer then continues by using an establishing shots showing the helicopter pass over a building and shows a shot of a city landscape dominated by sky scrapers. The text is used to describe the shots and give the audience a sense of this character's situation and his everyday lifestyle.
The trailer then starts to switch between screen captions and shots of the protagonist carrying normal duties.
The mixture between the text and shots is supposed to build tension and lead onto something more exciting which it eventually does However, as this is a trailer for an action sci-fi I think this trailer needs to start with more interesting opening that captures the audiences, rather than let the audience wait for the trailer to get interesting. I think the combination of text and dull shots do make the start of the trailer less appealing, although that is designed to show the difference between reality and the matrix. The trailer does switch back and forth between the text and the shots and is accompanied by quiet music and dull lighting before reaching the point where the trailer changes.
After we see the first close up of Neo the screen begins to flash and this is when the tone of trailer changes. After the screen flashes white a different version of Neo sits in a state of shock and the final piece of text appears on the screen and shows to the audience that Neo lives a slave, the start of the trailer comes across as very cryptic and confusing, but it its dull setting and specific explaination through captions helps build to this change of tone, setting and plot. However, this opening seems to drag on and doesn't capture the attention of the audience and I dont think a scene like this should be included in the trailer we make.
After this long build up the trailer starts to explain the plot to the audience and it does in a clever way. Their isn't a narrator or anymore text on the screen, the trailer uses scenes from the film of Fishburne's character explaining the situation to Neo and in turn explaining it to audience.
Similarly to the start of the trailer, Fishburne explainition is very cryptic and unusual but this suits the tone of the trailer and the film espicially with the scenes the run parallel with Fishburne's monologue. This trailer does show a lot from its mise en scene as well, whilst the lighting, dialogue and music help to set the tone, the costumes really stand out. When Fishburne starts talking the audience see him in all black clothing wearing a long black coat and sunglasses, making Fishburne's charcter look out of place from the normal world, making him look abnormal which suits the the tone of the triler.Whilst Fisburne is narrating the audience is shown some impressive CGI for the year this made and shows scenes where Neo tocuhes the mirror in front of him and the mirror starts to ripple like it is made of water, see Neo with skin covering his mouth looking horrific and mutated.
The most impressive and realistic looking scene is of the girl who displays telekinetic abilities as she makes the three blocks float in front of her. As these are the kind of features we want to include in our trailer to show off characters with superhuman abilities., we could use an effect like this among the many others that are avaliable to use.
As the trailer continues the audience learns more about the Matrix and how it is a different world from what was originally seen. Both the music and the editing are sped up at this point and the plot begins to unravel, as Neo finds out where he is a what is going in this abnormal world. The trailer continues to use Mise En Scene to convey the abnormal tone. It does this by showing a clip from reality of crowd amd Fishburne continue to explain about the dream world. The trailer goes on continuing to teach Neo and the audience about the matrix showing scenes a introducing Neo's love interest Trinity
We also get to see more CGI and the abnormal tone continues, in a close up shot on Neo we see that the spoon he is holding start curv and bend similiar atypical effects shown earlier. As the trailer continues the audience is introduced to the villain.
In a close up shot the audience get their first look at the villian of the film Mr. Smith. Smith's costume does make him look dark and mysterious as he is wearing a black suit and sun glasses. The other shots of the enemy make him even more meancing as we see a tracking shot of him exiting a helicopter and him standing around two dead bodies giving the sense that he is evil. The trailer returns to Neo and Morpheus, and Neo starts to understand the situation and there is a clip where Mr Smith finds out that Neo has been living two lives.
Fishburne continues to narrate the trailer in the form of explaination to Neo as he talks to the character about the enemy. Again these scenes show off both clever practical effects and CGI as shown on the left. Again using some of the video co-pilot tutorials I believe that I could edit some of these effects into our own trailer. The enemy is supposed to be percieved as scary here as the music has changed to fast paced darker sounding music that suits the villian presented in the trailer.
As the trailer starts to build to its climatic end , the music becomes faster and the editing speeds up to match the pace of the music. Neo collects guns from a CGI inventory that fly by him and the trailer then goes back to Neo and Morpheus, as Neo is told that he can dodge bullets. The fast pace music and editing continue, showcasing some of the best action shots and CGI in the film which include a helicopter smashing through the side of a building. The music and one of the shots slow down to make an impressive when Trinity kicks an enemy agents in mid air.
The fast paced music and editing then continues to build to the final and iconic Matrix shot where Neo bend backwards to dodge incoming bullets. This shot not only uses could camera work but also some impressive CGI. This shot is posibly the highlight of the trailer and I would defientely consider doing a similiar shot in the film trailer we are going to create. The final shot is of Neo saying 'whoa' edited in as response to the shot the audience have just seen and also for comedic purposes.
At the end of the trailer the title screen appears, following convention and ending the trailer. Overall, I believe Matrix is an exciting and complex trailer. Although it starts of quite dull, the action and the build up make this trailer interesting and makes the film look appealing to the audience. This trailer is within our genre and after closely analysing it I am confident on some of the shots and features we should include in our trailer.
Specific & Unique Features of the Trailer
I have analysed the trailer in detail, but their are some features that are very iconic in this trailer and look that whther I should include these in my own trailer.
Slow Motion Camera Work
This is a very unqiue feature in this trailer and creates some amazing shots that help build the tension and the action in this trailer. The first use of this type of camera work is in the second half of the trailer when after fast pace action shots and editing slows momentarily for the slow motion shot where Trinity leaps into the air and the camera circles her whilst she hovers in the air almost like time pauses, before time speeds up again and she kicks the enemy in the head. This type camera work is also used in one of the final scenes when Neo dodges the bullets. Neo leans back in slow motion and the bullets fly by. This shot is iconic to the Matrix and this is done perfectly. I would definetly consider including something like this within my own trailer, but it has to be done correctly otherwise it can look very unprofessional. If we were going to use it I would to use a an action shot and put it at a speed where the quality or the frame rate of the clip is not affected. But if I can I believe this would be a great feature to include in the trailer.
Lighting
The lighting in this trailer is very unique as their is actaully a lack of it. The lack of lighting makes all the scenes on this trailer look dull and creepy. This is obviously suited to the tone of the film but makes the whole trailer less appealing visuallly and makes the whole trailer seem darker, even the shots filemd outside seemed to be edited and had the gray scale altered to make the scenes seem darker and more suited to the tone. This dull lighting is relevant to the tone and atmosphere of the film, but I don't think this is something I want to include in our film trailer, I will definetely edit the lighting in some of the scenes to change impact they have on the audience but having all the scenes look dull and morbid is not something I want to put into our trailer.
Screen Captions
Screen captions are where that text appears on the screen and explains something to the audience. At the start fo the trailer the text is used to show the dull and seemingly normal life of the main character Neo. The captions are all written on a black background with a glowing green font, these cpations stand out on the page and help the audience understand certain aspects of the trailer. But it seems they are used as an alternative to narration which would of perhaps suited this trailer better. This trailer is over a decade old and screen caption have become outdated, I would much rather use narration to explain the story in our trailer.
Fast Pace Action & Editing
Like many action trailers this trailer leaves all its action shots to the end of the trailer were the shots are edited with music to make them seem faster and more intense. This is not unqiue to this trailer but since this trailer is over a decade old it is one of the earliest trailers I ahve seen that include this type of editing. The combination between the action and the aduoo really does engage the audience espicially when everything on screen is happening so quickly. This is definetely a feature that we should include in our trailer but we would have to film lots of different shots in order to make this scene realistic and engaging.
