Archive for September 2014

The first few seconds of the trailer establish the fact that Thomas doesn't remember anything but his name, in terms of an introduction to the fictional universe he inhabits this put the audience on the same level as him. This allows his introduction to be our introduction which is useful for explaining the concept of the story for those who don't have prior knowledge of the books. for just over a minute the trailer effectively takes the form of a question and answer session to explain the principles of "The Maze". Once that has been set up Thomas starts to question the norm and a change is thrown into the mix, when a girl appears saying Thomas' name. This second section shows that we have been introduced to the glade on the edge of change and also sets Thomas apart, as one glader says "Everything started to change when you showed up.". However before the animosity builds against him too much the danger levels reach critical for them and they're forced to turn to him for leadership. This trailer basically acts as a plot synopsis, establishing the fictional universe and it rules before showing us its degradation which will make up the plot of the film. In a way this trailer is a taster which will give audiences an idea of what they're buying into.
 As this film has quite a large ensemble cast it takes a bit of time to start to introduce us to some of the key characters other than Thomas, the first person we see beside Thomas is Will Poulter's character, who like all the others remains unnamed in the trailer. This suggests that he will be very important to the storyline as he is shown clearly and has spoken lines, the recognizable actor also implies this. the next one introduced is the guy who says "Welcome to the glade" his importance is shown through the fact he informs both Thomas and us of the the place's name, his voice is also the one questioning Thomas on who he is at the beginning which gives him an air of authority. His role as the group leader is further confirmed by the fact he is answering Thomas' questions and giving orders. However when thomas asks about the maze the narrative role switches to another boy, again played by a recognizable actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster,  as these two are shown talking in a two shot it seems like they are the same in the hierarchy and makes it seem like more of a conversation between friends. We don't learn much about the girl in this trailer however she seems to be keen to continue pushing Thomas apart from the rest suggesting she might know something.

 One of the most interesting elements about this trailer is the way it evolves over its course. At the beginning its quite jovial with upbeat modern music which would draw in younger audiences, however as it progresses it starts to get darker and darker with the music building in the background. Near the beginning it almost comes across more as a comedy, with one of the female characters asking Miles "Are you, posh?" in an over the top horrified way. In fact for about half the trailer it seems like it is a film about rich boy hi jinks, however when the girl from the beginning says to Miles "they're not your friends. They don't know when to stop." the mood starts to change. At first its subtle a slight change in the tone of the music and a build in the on screen hysteria. However when Sam Claflin's character punches the landlord of the pub they're in the music cuts out and is replaced by some sinister sounding piano notes. Suddenly everything seems much more serious, and the fun and games are replaced with some kind of ambiguous crime. By the look of the characters covered in blood we are left to assume that it was a murder. Following the line "people like us don't make mistakes" the music suddenly picks up again but now with an orchestral track that build the hysteria. from this point onwards it is clear that this is a drama/thriller to with the politics of class and the line from earlier on in the trailer "these boys will go on to be very important people" becomes quite a scary thought. This is emphasized by the words which appear onscreen "Filthy, Rich, Spoilt, Rotten".
 Another key point to this trailer is it's cast. It features a large group of actors who over the past couple of years have really stepped into the limelight, most notably: Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Douglas Booth, Jessica Brown Findlay, Holliday Grainger and Max Irons. This young, popular and attractive cast will have massive pulling power for the film as many already have dedicated groups of fans.
 The unique selling point of this film is its cultural relevance right now in Britain, with the election coming up next year and growing dissatisfaction among the younger generations a film like this about the infamous Bullingdon Club could not be better timed for release. Many of our politicians including the current prime minister David Cameron were members of this club and this film raises the import question of whether or not you really want people this out of touch with reality in charge of the country.

Target: try and use key terminology such as, technical, verbal, symoblic and engima codes.

Are there puzzles and questions left unanswered in the trailer that create an enimga for the audience?

Are there symoblic codes that create certain connotations and impact the audience?

Could you comment on the narrative structure of the trailer according to Todorov's theory of narrative?

 As The Hobbit:TBOTFA is the final part of a prequel trilogy it has to feel like its going to be a massive cinematic event, as a result this trailer has a grandiose feel with many links back to the original trilogy and featuring almost every character. One of the most poignant references to the original trilogy is the song in the background of the trailer which is sung by Pippin in The Return of the King over the top of Faramir's doomed charge against the Orc forces. By including it int this trailer they not only promote the link between the two trilogies but also for those who have seen the Lord of the Rings it hints at impending tragedy. Another link back to the original trilogy are the characters that feature in both of them, for example Galadriel, Gandalf and Saruman played by Kate Blanchett, Ian Mckellan and Christopher Lee respectively. By having these big named characters and actors featured in this trailer it will bring in a wider audience of cinema goers who will see these names as a symbol of quality.
There is very little speech in this trailer which makes what speech there is especially important. At the beginning Bilbo has a short voice over which basically serves to build the mystery around the film, with the suggestion of key character death. However as this is very vague the ambiguous nature of it will serve to entice in a cinema audience by making them want to find out more. The next speech is over halfway through the trailer with the exchange between Bard and Thorin, "Will you have peace or war?" with Thorin replying " I will have war". This shows a shift in the dynamics of Thorin's character, while previously he was very much a "good" character this hints that maybe in this film that could change.
 There are lots of slow paced establishing shots and fast paced mid or two shots which introduce all of the characters while maintaining the epic tone of the trailer. The low angle shot of the dragon Smaug is intimidating for the audience and firmly shows that this film will be darker than its predecessors.