Questionnaire (Pre-Film)

This questionnaire is to gain a real idea of what people expect from teaser trailers in terms of genre, conventions and existing media texts.

A sample of people of all ages (over 15 of course) and genders were asked questions. These were their responses.

1. What sort of mise-en-scene to you associate with thrillers?

Weapons (mainly guns)

Suits - especially worn by the antagonist

Normal clothes (e.g. sweaters, t-shirts) - these worn to represent the normal people who are involved in thrillers.

2. When watching a teaser trailer what do you think the conventions are?

Production/Distribution Company Logos - for example Warner Brothers or Universal. This usually comes at the beginning.
Website (usually always at the end)
Voiceover man

Music - make sure that it reflects the genre but also that it works with images
Tagline

Images from the film
Title of the film
Release dates (for a teaser this is likely to be 'Coming Soon' or something vague like this, rather than a specific date.
Indication of genre - the intended audience should be clear (this is done through the music, voiceover and mise-en-scene)

Sound effects
Eye candy

Editing - transitions often include flashes, quick fades and dissolves alongside more conventional cuts
Possibly cast, crew, director credits
Possibly reference to other films (that this is similar to) or other films that have been directed/produced by the same people.
Stars / names of the stars
Reference to awards that cast/crew/film may have won or been nominated for (these may refer to other films).

3. When watching a teaser trailer what do you think are the conventions of a thriller teaser trailer?

Protagonist and girlfriend on the run together
Mise en scene - The protagonists are wearing suits
Impact sounds - Quick, high pitched

Montages
Fight scenes
Slow temp music at the beginning, then fast music starts as it builds up to the end.
Taglines
Release Date

Focus on guns

Running
Canted angles
Doors being closed and opened
Voiceover

Black screen with white writing (e.g. credits, title etc)
Eye candy
Extreme close ups
Match on actions
Credits/Billing
Sound logos
Logos of companies making films

4. Which films do you think best represents the sub genre of political, on the run or conspiracy thriller?

The Bourne Identity

Unknown

The Adjustment Bureau

The Next Three Days

The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Ides Of March

Flight Plan

The Manchurian Candidate

The Interpreter

Vantage Point

I plan on using these answers in my research and planning into making a conventional thriller. I will use this as help for my own research into each of these questions on my blog. I will also create a questionnaire for the final copy of the film to see if I have matched these answers.

Poster Layout Sketches

Before I could start creating my poster. I had to sketch some ideas of the layout I would like. These are some sketches I drew:

Magazine Layout Sketches

Before I could create the actual magazine front cover I drew up some skecthes of what it may look like. Here they are:

Poster Questionnaire (pre-release)

Before creating my poster, I feel it is neccesary to do market research and find out what conventions the audience find in posters. Hres how the questionnaire turned out:

1. In all film posters, what things do you expect to always see?

Images (Stars/Characters, Scenes from the film)
Quotations from magazines/newspapers reviews (showing target audience)
Taglines
Release Date (Sometimes vague e.g. ‘Coming Next Summer’)
The title (always the biggest text on poster)
Logos of companies involved in making the film
Website
Images of stars
Eye Candy (Male or Female/Explosions/Action)
Star Ratings
Certificate
Credits / Billing
Sound Logos
Mise-en-scene (referencing genre)

2. In terms of the thriller genre. what things do you always expect to see on a poster?

Tagline - directly addressing the audience
Urban setting - e.g. City of London
Mise-en-scene associated with the genre. e.g. use of guns
The tagline is sometimes a red colour
Characters often have an indirect mode of address.
Side Lighting on characters.
Canted framing
Actors that are associated with the genre are used.
Muted colour scheme.
Formal clothes
Bold font is used for the title and tagline.
Characters chasing / running.
High angles


I will use these results along with my research to create a conventional poster both in terms of the genre, and all film posters.

Magazine Questionnaire

To get an insight into what ordinary people see in magazines, I created a questionnaire. A sample of people ranging from different ages and genders took the survey. This is how it turned out.

1. What content do you expect to find in a film magazine?

Features - discussions, pictures etc.

Interviews

Reviews

Previews

Poster/Adverts

2. What sort of things do you expect to see on a front cover of a film magazine?

Images of the stars

Images of characters

Large banner(s)

Names of the films in the magazine

Website

Barcode / Issue / Price

References to stars, directors or films

References to posters or competitions

The Masthead

3. In What way does the design of the magazine persuade you to buy the publication?

Big, bold title of magazine (masthead)

Big, often colourful banners

Big stars as the central image

Eye Candy

Exclusives referred to obviously on the front

Good colour scheme

Competitions

4. In what way does the layout persuade you to buy the publication?

Clear structure

Not cluttered

Masthead the biggest text

The taglines in line with each other

No overlapping

Potential Taglines on Magazine

I have come up with a list of potential taglines to use on the front of my magazine. They have to be appropriate for type of publication (mainstream). These are what I have come up with.

• Sneak Peak at Avengers
• Top 100 action films of all time
• The Complete Cameron! From Piranha 2 to Avatar 
• Exclusive Scorsese interview! Whats next fro the legend?
• The real Iron Man
• Superhero Smackdown! Batman Spidey and The Avengers Fight it Out
• Alex Dawson's exclusive interviews
• Alex Dawson tells us his Blueprint for success
• The Dark Knight: First preview
• Brad Pitt v. Jonny Depp
• Eye Candy in films! - A history of.
• Brad Pitt: Bookending the summer with killing them softly and 8

Conventions of a thriller teaser trailer

Now I have found conventions of a teaser trailer, I have to find the conventions of a thriller trailer so I can make the most conventional trailer possible.

• Protagonist and girlfriend on the run together
• Mise en scene - The protagonists are wearing suits
• Impact sounds - Quick, high pitched
• Running
• Canted angles
• Doors being closed and opened
• Focus on guns
• Voiceover
• Black screen with white writing (e.g. credits, title etc)
• Eye candy
• Extreme close ups
• Match on actions
• Montages
• Fight scenes
• Slow temp music at the beginning, then fast music starts as it builds up to the end.
• Taglines
• Release Date
• Credits/Billing
• Sound logos
• Logos of companies making films

Types of Thrillers

Types Of Thrillers

• The thriller of murderous passions... organized around the triangular grouping of husband/wife/lover. The central scene is generally the murder of one member of the triangle by one or both of the other members. The emphasis is clearly on the criminal protagonist. The criminal motive is generally passion or greed.

• The political thriller... organized around a plot to assassinate a political figure or a revelation of the essential conspiratorial nature of governments and their crimes against the people. these films generally document and dramatize the acts of assassins, conspirators, or criminal governments, as well as the oppositional acts of victim-societies, counter cultures, or martyrs.

• The thriller of acquired identity... organized around a protagonist's acquisitions of an unaccustomed identity, his or her behaviour in coming to terms with the metaphysical and physical consequences of this identity, and the relationship of this acquisition to a murderous plot.

• The psychosomatic thriller... organized around the psychotic effects of a trauma on a protagonist's current involvement in a love affair and a crime or intrigue. The protagonist is always a victim - generally of some past trauma and often of real villains who take advantage of his or her masochistic guilt.

• The thriller or moral confrontation... organized around an overt antithetical confrontation between a character representing good or innocence and a character representing evil. These films are often constructed in terms of elaborate dualities which emphasize the parallels between the victim and the criminal.

• The innocent-on-the-run thriller... organized around an innocent victim's coincidental entry into the midst of global intrigue. The victim often finds himself running from both the villains as well as the police.

Thriller Research

Narrative

Narrative is defined as "a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occuring in time".


Diegesis

The internal world created by the story that the characters themselves expereicne and encounter.


Story and Plot

Story - The stroy is all events referenced both explicitly in a narrative and inferred (including back story as well as those projected beyond the action.)

Plot - The plot is the events directly incorporated into the action of the text and the order in which they are presented.


Narrative Range

Unrestricted narration - This is when a narrative which has no limits to the information that is presented i.e. a news bulletin

Restricted narration - This is when only a minimal amount of information regarding the narrative i.e. thrillers.

Narrative depth

Subjective character identification - This is when the viewer is given unique access to what a range of characters see and do.

Objective Character Identification - This is when the viewer is given unique access to a character's point of view such as seeing things from the character's mind, dreams, fantasies or memories.

Themes of a thriller (Brainstorm)

Some general themes that thrillers are usually based on:

• Stalkers
• Ex or escaped convicts
• Innocent victims
• Family breakdown
• Government
• Political conspiracy
• Terrorism
• Love (twisted relationships)

Choice of Genre

I have decided to do a marketing campaign for a thriller. So now I know the conventions of posters, I will look at the conventions of posters of the Thriller genre to see how the genre is reflected in those posters.

Mainstream Magazine Analysis

Now I have chosen what type of publication my magazine will be, I will analyse hte layout and content of examples of this type of publication.

• Image of character for hollywood film
• Special 'sci-fi' feature
• Emotive taglines - "How summer's biggest superhero went to war"
• Banner - Advertising an exclusive on the 'Avenger' pictured in the Image.
• The Background picture is also an image representing to film character, not the actor.
• Reference to other parts of the magazine: All of the advertisement is for films that are of the same sort of genre - e.g. Spiderman.
• Different colour fonts
• Barcode
• Issue
• Price
• Block font - capitals
• Large fonts

• Image of character
• Exclusive of film that character is in
• Background image of film
• 'Oscars' feature - mainstream acting awards
• Taglines to do with film and magazine - 'The Worlds Biggest Movie Magazine'
• Reviews
• Barcode
• Issue
• Price
• Advertising articles of famous films - Ghostbusters 3, The Wrestler etc.
• Block fonts
• Large fonts
• Easy colour scheme

• Image of character from film
• Banner advertising a special feature on world famous director
• Special pull-out of feature film
• Feature on film
• Taglines on the feature film
• Block font
• Price
• Easy colour scheme
• Taglines - magazine and feature
• Barcode
• Issue

Conventions of Film magazines

• Image of stars
• The Masthead - title of the magazine, big, bold, at the top, the largest font on the page.
• Large banner(s)
• Images from film
• Names of films that appear in the magazine and text that references stars, directors and films.
• References to free posters and competitions.
• Bar code
• Reviews
• Issue number with price and date
• Website

Type of Publication

I will now analyse 5 different types of magazine, looking at there layout, style and content.

American Cinematographer

Filmmaker

 Sight & Sound

Empire

 Total Film

In the Magazines:

• Front Covers - front covers of mainstream, fan-friendly film magazines, such as Total Film, Empire, Hotdog and Filmstar are used to promote upcoming film releases and are an essential part of a films marketing campaign (particularly as this type of promotion is free).

These magazines mostly feature big-budget Hollywood films (which my film is meant to replicate), though they may make reference to American independent films and British films.

• Features - usually running over many pages, this is the dominant from of journalism in the publication. They include:

1. Pictures: some from the press pack including image from the film itself, plus images 'on set' and pictures of the case/crew.
2. Discussions: with cast and crew members regarding their experiences of the making of the film
3. Box-outs: which include release dates, certificate, background, information about cast and crews previous films, genre and budget.

• Interviews - most interviews will be conducted with stars or directors - the people involved in the film who are most instantly recognisable to the readers/audience. Occasionally there maybe interviews with more obscure members of the crew such has composers, producers or cinematographers (though these are more likely to appear in highbrow magazines such a Sight & Sound, or trade journals such a Screen International. 

• Reviews - reviews are central to the success of certain types of films and positive reviews create a buzz around the film which production/distribution companies hope will lead to positive word of mouth. Reviews appear in magazines just in advance pf the film's release, and positive comments of high star ratings will often be used in future promotional material.

• Previews - often found at the front of the magazines, previews offer tantalizing bits of information to the audience, well in advance of a film release (often up to a year before the film comes out, and sometimes longer). Previews are often light on information but will inform readers about cast and crew choices, and possible release dates. Previews are often dominated by images in an attempt to generate interest for the audience.

• Posters/Adverts

Magazines such as Sight & Sound, which covers the British film industry and World Cinema rather than Hollywood, is less likely to feature promotional material so obviously. The readership is much small and the audience is best described as niche. 

Other film magazines may also target a niche or specialist market - magazines such as Neon have a retrospective fell and are more likely to include articles on older 'classic' films rather than contemporary cinema. American Cinematographer is an example of this.

Taking all of this into account, it is obvious that Blueprint will be promoted by a mainstream magazine like Empire or Total Film. It is a hollywood style film, with big stars, big budgets and a big marketing campaign.

Existing Film Publications

 Empire is a film magazine that was first published in 1989, in the UK, it is aimed at an audience of 15 to 24. They mainly focus on blockbuster, hollywood films. However, it does look at independent and art-house productions. It is the biggest selling magazine in Britain, releasing publications monthly.

Total film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (every four weeks) by Future Publishing. Doing features on film, DVD, Blu-Ray, news and reviews; the magazine launched in 1997. It is the second-best selling magazine in the UK behind Empire. It caters for a 15-24 demographic, mianly focusing on mainstream, blockbuster films.

American Cinematographer focuses on the art and craft of conematography, going behind the scenes on domestic and international productions. The American Society of Cinematographers publish the magaizne which is released monthly. The magazine was started in 1920 and features in-depth interviews with cinematographers, directors and some of their key collaborators at every stage of production. It is aimed at a less mainstream, older demographic.

Premiere was an American, New-York based film magazine that stopped issuing copies in April 2007. The monthky magazine was first published in 1987. It has a demographic of 15-24, focusing mainly on mainstream films.

Neon was a British film magazine published monthly by Emap Consumer Media from December 1996 to February 1999. It was released monthly and mainly focussed on mainstream cinema, it was seen a a refreshing alternative to best-seller Empire.

Covering international film business, screen international is a popular UK magazine mainly aimed at a more niche market. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business. The weekly magazine in its current form was founded in 1976.

 

Sight & Sound was first published in 1932. The Magazine reviews all film releases each month, including those with a limited release, as opposed to most film magazines which concentrate on those film with a general release. Sight & Sound features a full cast and crew credity list for each reviewed film.

British independent movie magazine that features writing, illustration and photography related to cinema. It is published by London-based creative agency. It is a bi-monthly magazine.

Escape was a landmark British comic strip magazine founded and edited by paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. 19 issues were published between 1983 and 1989.

Teaser Trailer Analysis

To help me make my own teaser trailer, I have to look at examples of trailers to find the conventions of teaser trailers. I looked at is Kung Fu Panda 2.

• Dreamworks Logo at the beggining of the trailer.
• Very little narrative information
• "Next Summer" release date at the beggining of the trailer. It is vague as it is very near the beggining of the marketing campaign.
• There is a voice over man, clarifying when the film is roughly going to be released and narrating.
• There are impact sounds in between scenes and when the taglines appear.
• Tagline - "Prepare for the return... Of awseomeness". This is also a reference to the last film. In my experience of film, it is sequals and big franchises that use this in trailers as they have the awareness of the film from the previous film.
• The title of the film "Kung Fu Panda 2"
• The music is 'Kung Fu Fighting', which represents the genre, as it is a film about martial arts.
• The star of the film 'Jack Black', is shown as text in the trailer and the voice over man emphasises his involvement.
• At the end of the trailer we see a more detailed relase date, 'May 2011'.
• We also see the website address - KungFuPanda.com
• On this shot we see the 'Dreamworks' and 'Paramount' logo at the bottom of the screen.
• The trailer ends with the Paramount production company logo.

Conventions of Teaser Trailers

To help me make my trailer I have to look at a number of teaser trailers in order to write a list of conventions of which I will try to use in my trailers. I looked at many trailers but these were the most significant in creating my list: 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'Hangover 2', 'Transformers 3' and 'Cowboys and Aliens'.

• Production/Distribution Company Logos - for example Warner Brothers or Universal. This usually comes at the beginning.

• Images from the film

• Title of the film

• Release dates (for a teaser this is likely to be 'Coming Soon' or something vague like this, rather than a specific date.

• Indication of genre - the intended audience should be clear (this is done through the music, voiceover and mis-en-scene)

• Website (usually always at the end)

• Voiceover man

• Editing - transitions often include flashes, quick fades and dissolves alongside more conventional cuts

• Possibly cast, crew, director credits

• Possibly reference to other films (that this is similar to) or other films that have been directed/produced by the same people.

• Stars / names of the stars

• Reference to awards that cast/crew/film may have won or been nominated for (these may refer to other films).

• Music - make sure that it reflects the genre but also that it works with images

• Tagline

• Quotes that reference other films - for example 'From the Director of...'

• Sound effects

• Eye candy

• Reference to the source material the film is based on

• Try to use a variety of camera shots / movement

• Reference to prequel

Conventions of Teaser Trailers

Casino Royale

The next teaser trailer I am looking at is Casino Royale.

• The trailer starts with the showing of the production and distribution of the film.
• There is talking over the shots at the start of the trailer.
• The underscore starts off slow, then as the trailer goes on it builds up in volume and tempo.
• The shots are quick changing, especially as the music's tempo goes up. This is because, like Inception, the change in shots is in time with the music.
• The shots are of the main aspect of James Bond (e.g. girls, guns and explosions).
• There is a release date and the production/distribution at the end of the trailer.
• The music comes to a sudden end, at the end of the trailer.

Conventions of Teaser Trailers

Inception

The first trailer I am looking at is Inception. This is a teaser trailer, so by analyzing it I will be doing research on what my trailer may have in it, in terms of conventions of trailers.

• The underscore starts off slow with one droning sound. As the trailers goes on, more sounds are heard, the music gets louder and a higher tempo. It ends with the same slow sound from the beginning.
• There is no diegetic sound.
• There are images of the production and distribution at the beginning of the trailer. (They are being zoomed in on)
• There is also a mention of the director as he is well-known.
• There is mainly close-ups shots of characters, showing reaction.
• The shots are quick and in time with the music (e.g. when the music speeds up, so does the frequency of shots).
• A lot of text appears on the screen, coming towards the audience. This is text that are slogans to do with the film.
• Athe end of the trailer, the release date and the billing is shown.

Comparing Teaser and Theatrical Trailers

Thor

This is the teaser trailer.

This is the theatrical trailer.

Battle LA

Teaser trailer.

Theatrical trailer

As seen from both Thor and the Battle LA, on the theatrical trailer there is more narrative information. We find out about who the characters are, the background information such as why they are doing what they are doing, how they got there and what they have to do. 

The technical aspect also differs. Theatrical trailers, those found in cinemas, are generally much longer than teaser trailers - often up to two-and-a-half minutes in length. Theatrical trailers often appear quite late in the film's marketing campaign - in the last few weeks in the run-up to the film's release.

Teaser trailers often reach the public a considerable time before the film's release - often many months, sometimes over a yea, before the film is due to hit cinemas. They reveal little about the plot, for example, withholding information from the audience in order to create anticipation and a desire to want more, thus generating greater long term interest in the film. Teaser trailers might be shown in cinemas but usually are found online on official and unofficial websites.

However there are some similarities between theatrical and teaser trailers.

• Both of them have fades.
• There are often taglines in both.
• Impact sounds used to create a mood.
• Production/distribution company logos
• Often they do have release dates, however the teaser trailer, in general, is more vague due to where in the marketing campaign the trailer is released.
• A website for the film is often shown in both.