The narrative structure of a film trailer

Aristotle identified the basic linear plot structure in 350 BC as a simple triangle of beginning, middle and ending. He observed that the middle section might involve some form of crisis, resolved by the end of the story.
In 1863, the German novelists Gustav Freytag published Die Technik Des Dramas in which he outlines his pyramid structure for the plot. Adapting Aristotle's basic triangle he added the idea of the plot complicating, introducing conflicts and building to a climax point, after which it falls away when the conflicts are resolved, the mysteries are also solved and we are finally left with a satisfactory resolution.

Exposition: The start of the story, the established situation before the story begins.

Rising action: The series of complications, conflicts and and layers of mystery that build toward the climax.

Climax: The turning point and the point with the highest intensity, emotionally or through action.

Falling action:

Action following the climax and pieces of the jigsaw falling in to place to solve the mysteries.

Resolution: Any disruptions caused by the rising action are returned to a state or 'normality', the mysteries are solved and as far as possible the established order of the start is returned. However where it can not return to the established order, justice is served.

This structure was the further developed in 1960s by Tzvetan Todorov in to his theory of equilibrium - disequilibrium - equilibrium.

Freytag's structure is noticeable in Hollywood output and is striking feature ofHollywood film trailers. The form of the triangle used below best represents the timing and the structure used in many film trailers where a quiet opening builds to a punch in the music, followed by rapid action and a falling away to a quiet sound and the credits at the end.

Many different types of media that tell a story e.g Music video, films, film trailers and novels follow Freytag's theory as it is a very effective way of creating drama. If they do not follow this theory it is very unconventional.

Narrative Theories

Tsvetan Todorov - Equilibrium.
Todorov felt that all stories start in a state of equilibrium, which is then disrupted,setting in a motion of chain events. The resolution of the story is the creation of a new/different equilibrium.
E.g. Titanic
Rose is engaged, she then leaves her fiancee for Jack; Jack dies. then Rose continues her life as an independant woman.

Levi-Strauss - Binary Oppositions.
Meanings, including narrative, depends on binary oppositions. He explores these in terms of underlying paradigmatic themes rather than events.
E.g. Titanic
Rich/poor
Artistic/materialistic
Brave/cowardly
Irish/English

Iconography - symbolic/symbols used in cinema/film to express an underlying meaning. They are used as shorthand by film makers.
E.g. Ditzy blonde
Space ship
Maked man
Isolated house
We become familiar with some icons because they are repeated over and over again.

Silent Hill movie trailer and teaser trailer

This is the Silent Hill teaser trailer it uses the conventional features of a horror genre film.

A teaser clip is designed to give the viewer a small taste of the genre and film without giving you too much of the story-line away. They are designed to give you just a short amount of clip to persuade you in to watching the movie.

This is the theatre trailer for the film Silent Hill.

The Campaign...

Inside film distribution:

It has to have a unique selling point.

the advertising can be done through many different ways, for example on the television, on the internet and big film posters in the the City.

You have to think about:

Is it somebody in the story?

Is the story sellable?

Cast? (famous actor)

Is it an easy watch?

The film Trailer is the most important part to a campaign.

Synergy has to be considered when producing a magazine front cover, a film poster and a film trailer. This is because every element of the campaign has to be the same so that the viewers/public know that they are all part of the same film.

The font on the poster, front cover and film trailer has to be exactly the same. If there is not a connection made between the three of them then you are asking the public to do too much and if they are not attracted to it within three seconds then you will lose their concentration. The poster must also make the genre extremely clear to the public.

The Trailer:

The trailer to a film is all about what the public will experience when watching the film on a big screen.

The teaser trailer is produced very early into the production process or before the film has even been started.

The theatrical trailer gives away a lot about the film and is usually released when the film it is for is at the cinema etc.

"Copy" is the word used in the media industry for the words that appear in a trailer. The captions that are added into a film trailer create a mood in the viewers head and creates the atmosphere of the film genre, for example in a scary film by the silence and just a caption on the screen creates the scary atmosphere for the viewers.

A voice over should never be put with a caption in a film trailer as it does not give the viewer time to read it and then think of the different things that could happen and again does not create the right atmosphere.

TV Spots:

These are only around 20 - 30 seconds long.

They should include the films title, who is in it and when it opens. There must also be a web address at the bottom of the trailer and poster.

Publicity:

Reviews:

The reviews that the film is given go on the poster and magazine front cover. This is so that the public can see what others think before going to actually see the film.

Tracking:

This is the publics awareness of the film. The question asked is do the public know about it? If it is not well known by majority of the public within four weeks of it being released then the film may not be as successful as the film producers want it to be.

Word of mouth:

The moment that the film opens, it will only be successful through word of mouth.

Opening Weekend:

A film is always released on a Friday and therefore it has a three day opening. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Introduction...

In this blog I will be showcasing my A2 media studies coursework. We could choose from designing a music video or a film trailer. Therefore I decided to design a film trailer as within my group we decided that a film trailer would be more challenging and you can also get a lot more ideas into a film trailer than a music video. We also have to produce a film poster and magazine front cover, however this shouldn't be too hard as this is similar to the AS coursework.

Camera Media!

At the beginning of the year for our A2 Coursework we were given a list of shots with times and places in which we had to film them. After completing all of the shots below we had to work out were the footage we were filming was based from. We managed to work out that it was from Back to The Future.

From filming this, was our way of practicing how the video cameras work and conveyed to us the mistakes and problems that we should avoid when filming our Film Trailer or Music Video.