After researching in to the genre of horror I have decided to research into another genre to widen my understanding of how film companies portray their genre of film through their campaign. I have decided to look at a different genre from horror; I have therefore decided to look at the genre of action. Although both genres rely on keeping the audience’s heart racing they use different techniques to do so. I decided that action film trailers should include:
-A heroine, male or female, they would appear superior and powerful, possible using low angled shots. Sometimes this character begins weak and then progresses.
-A 'bady' that either begins as close friends with the enemy or is weaker than the enemy, and eventually deceives and manipulates the heroine. Or this enemy has been a constant enemy who has proved a difficulty to the heroine through out.
-There are generally lots of whip pans used for the transitions of shots (where the camera pans from one shot to another, blurring the image in-between) this emphasises the speed of the film and reflects the action.
-All action films include a sense of jeopardy - there is risk, drama danger and threats through out this film.
-We would also expect to have music that gradually speeds up through out the trailer, with a heavy beat continuously going through out the trailer, this again generally speeds up and is often similar to a heart beat.
- We also expect random quotations from film characters or quotes that are of importance. Generally action film trailers use jump cuts constantly with short clips rapidly speeding up in cuts as the trailer progresses.
-Action film trailers are appealing to people who thrive of similar aspects to horror, for example gore or fighting scenes. They have come to watch an intense storyline with twists and an exciting nature to it, therefore in the trailer they should include shots of these main scenes and events that will occur in the film.
I began looking at 'Apocalypto', a famous action film directed by Mel Gibson, set in central America (trailer for 'Apocalypto') The film is the story of a tribal man set on survival and saving his family after his village has been destructed. The film trailer starts of with the key images of the film and the key scenes. To an audience who has never seen the film these images aren’t significant and therefore create confusion and don’t ruin the story line. The first image is of the girl who tells of a prophecy of an eclipse, and a black jaguar. The images that follow her are of the eclipse and a black jaguar, and a tribal painting of a decapitation. This shows instantly to the audience that it is a period drama and what period it is set in and also gives us a brief understanding of the audience. The beginning of the trailer is very slow again conforming to the conventions of an action trailer.
After this initial section we are presented with images of a peaceful rainforest and a joyous tribe, this confuses the audience as they are expecting fast pace trailers, but they are trying to set the scene. Between each shot they fade to white, this reflects the light nature of the beginning of the film and these elements of the film. The fades for transitions also indicating time change from the beginning of the trailer to the middle of it and also to reflect the peacefulness of the beginning of the trailer and therefore the beginning of the story. There is then a series of intimidating short shots separated with fades to black in between each shot. At the beginning of the trailer the shots fade to white, as they now fade to black the audience now realise that it has become sinister. The fades relates all the images together and makes them seem important, it also makes the distance between them seem really long and adds anticipation and suspension to the mood.
There is then a series of shot of generally scenery from Central America and the important names relating to production. We as an audience are then presented with a series of clips from the film in chronological order to when they happen in the film showing us a brief storyline. We see the tribal life that the characters live in, we can instantly see it is based in the rainforest due to their surroundings and their costume. We are presented with the statement 'comes a journey into a lost world, like nothing you’ve experienced' this adds challenge to the audience making them more inclined to watch the film, it also adds a sense of jeopardy. It also excites the audience and leaves them sitting on the edge of their seat as they want to see what happens next after been shown a possibly dangerous and exciting set of scenes which has been broken up by these titles and captions. A series of striking shots are then layered on top of each other and are very quickly shown to us, speeding up as we move through. It then slows all the way down and shows images of a peaceful nature. It then speeds up again once more showing fast pace movement and fighting, these images move so fast that the audience has little chance to make sense of the shots they have seen, this confuses the audience but also transfixes them as they are trying to work it out. By separating the two action elements of the trailers with a slow down love situation in the middle they are appealing directly to their audience. Action viewers don’t just want gore, fast pace films otherwise they would watch horror films, and they want something similar but less horrific with a softer nature to it as well
The music initially starts off eerie at the beginning of the trailer with loud symbol strikes as the images change to enhance their importance. The music then changes to tribal peaceful music as the audience is introduced to the tribe, whilst everything is peaceful. There is the introduction for the audience and therefore allows them to gain an understanding, the music emphasises the relaxed peaceful nature. The music then takes a sinister tone as we are shown the 'badies'. It slows right down and works in time with the images shown, this excites the audience and leaves the anticipating the next thing. After this the music progresses and drum beats begin, the drum strikes on the important images adding emphasis to them. The drum role reinforces the tribal and gradually speeds up through the trailer as the storyline begins to unfold. This therefore speeds up the audience’s heartbeat as it matches in time. It builds up and increases in volume until it finally stops and we are presented with the statement 'as a civilisation comes to an end'- this makes the audience question what happens and as it is the ending of the music it reinforces the statement as it all suddenly goes silent.
This trailer fulfils most of the conventions of action trailers as it includes:
Jeopardy
Jump cuts
A heroine
Sped up through out the trailer
Shot clips put together
A group of 'badys'
Fast pace, gripping music.
The next action trailer I decided to look at was Transporter 3 (Transporter 3 Trailer), I will now compare and contrast between Transporter 3 and Apocalypto trailers. Transporter, like Apocalypto begins with a series of key images that fade to black. These provide the audience with a setting and key scenes of importance. There is a constant dialogue throughout this section, which has been taken from the film. It is two men talking; this implies the significance of this dialogue. As these short shots finish we are shown the scene in which the dialogue is coming from. Up until this point the music has been quiet with a fast pace drumbeat. As we reach this scene the music stops. The music then comes back full volume and very heavy to the next scene which depicts a man fighting off various men. We assume the central man is the main character of the film as they are all against him. We therefore again have one heroine with a series of enemies. There is a series of jump cuts used to add speed and too excite the audience, and also to not give away too much of the scene or show too much violence.
This is similar to the Apocalypto trailer as all elements of violence where shown briefly, this may be due to the fact that the directors and editors had to make the trailer suitable to all ages, and therefore they could not focus on violence. 24 seconds into the trailer we are presented with the production companies logo, this again is the same as Apocalypto, this breaks up the trailer, and as you are already paying attention as the trailer has drawn you in, you are more likely to remember the production company. We are then presented with a series of close ups and extreme close ups mixed with long shots of a character, this shows the importance of this character. This is different to Apocalypto as in Apocalypto shot types mainly consisted of long shots, close ups or mid shots. The dialogue again continues showing various shots of key scenes and flicking between the scenes that the dialogue originates from. This shows the connection between the shots been shown. Again the music stops and the main character say 'on one condition, I drive my own car'- this is a typical aspect of an action film and therefore is included in the trailer. We are presented with a fast car, guns, weapons, technology and a female. These again are common aspects of an action film and therefore have appeared in the trailer so that the audience can categorise this film into the action genre.
This is very different to Apocalypto. Although a female is present, she has been presented in a different way, the female in Transporter 3 has been presented in a sexual manner, and where as the female in Apocalypto is presented as a loving character. Although we are presented with weapons in the trailer for Apocalypto they are very different. The reason why these two films share differences is due to the fact they are set in different time eras and there is a difference in culture and society between the two films, therefore resulting in differences in mise en scene. The next few shot are shot with a fast pan showing the speed of the film and exciting the audience. This is similar to the shot Mel Gibson has used in Apocalypto where we see the main character being chased through the jungle by his enemies; although the context is different the effect is still the same- excitement and anticipation.
For the rest of the trailer we are presented with a series of action shots taken from scenes of the film, they jump cut at a fast pace therefore again exciting the audience, this is the same as Apocalypto's editing techniques. There is also a voice over stating the realise date and captions of key information such as the release date and actors. The actor is the unique selling point of the film and is therefore emphasised by putting it into a caption, this is the same as Apocalypto as Mel Gibson is the unique selling point and his name has also been put into a caption. Transporter 3 fulfils the genre of an action film trailer as it includes:
Fast pace music
Jump cuts
A sense of jeopardy
A heroine
A series or 'bady's'
High-speed footage
The main differences between Apocalypto and Transporter 3 are the result of differences in setting and eras, this therefore influences the technology used, although both have used similar editing techniques and sound techniques to produce a gripping, fast pace, action filled trailer.
I have discovered that the difference between horror and action films is that action films contain another gripping storyline; they aren’t as scary but are faster pace.
I then began to look at the campaign for Apocalypto. I decided to look at the film poster. (Shown to the left) As you can see the image shows silhouette of one of the characters, but it isn’t the main character, this is unusual as normally the main character features on the front cover, but instead the lead nemesis of the heroine does. Instantly from the image the audience can see that the film is set In Aztec times due to the pyramid in the background. The washed out colours makes the image appear sinister and interesting. This is unusual for an action film as usually the poster reflects the fast pace action of the film, where as the character walking towards the camera appears to be stumbling rather than running with his head slumped. The 1st title of the poster is 'Mel Gibson'- a famous actor and director, this is the unique selling point of the film, something that this film has that no other film has.
The fact there is no major colours present in the poster makes it appear eerie, serious and sinister reflecting the style of film that it is. The caption 'no one can outrun their destiny' creates anticipation and a sense of jeopardy to the film; this reflects the genre of action. This poster is unusual for an action film as normally they include a scene of violence or something that will portray an action film. For example the poster to the left for Transporter 3 shows a man mid action shot with a gun, instantly showing the audience that the film is and action film. Both posters have used minimal colours and have focused more on form by sing a black and white image rather than colour. Both feature main characters to the film but the Transporter 3's image of the actor is a lot more clear than the Apocalypto image, this may because the actor of Transporter 3 is the unique selling point for the film, where as Apocalypto's unique selling point is Mel Gibson as the director.
-A heroine, male or female, they would appear superior and powerful, possible using low angled shots. Sometimes this character begins weak and then progresses.
-A 'bady' that either begins as close friends with the enemy or is weaker than the enemy, and eventually deceives and manipulates the heroine. Or this enemy has been a constant enemy who has proved a difficulty to the heroine through out.
-There are generally lots of whip pans used for the transitions of shots (where the camera pans from one shot to another, blurring the image in-between) this emphasises the speed of the film and reflects the action.
-All action films include a sense of jeopardy - there is risk, drama danger and threats through out this film.
-We would also expect to have music that gradually speeds up through out the trailer, with a heavy beat continuously going through out the trailer, this again generally speeds up and is often similar to a heart beat.
- We also expect random quotations from film characters or quotes that are of importance. Generally action film trailers use jump cuts constantly with short clips rapidly speeding up in cuts as the trailer progresses.
-Action film trailers are appealing to people who thrive of similar aspects to horror, for example gore or fighting scenes. They have come to watch an intense storyline with twists and an exciting nature to it, therefore in the trailer they should include shots of these main scenes and events that will occur in the film.
I began looking at 'Apocalypto', a famous action film directed by Mel Gibson, set in central America (trailer for 'Apocalypto') The film is the story of a tribal man set on survival and saving his family after his village has been destructed. The film trailer starts of with the key images of the film and the key scenes. To an audience who has never seen the film these images aren’t significant and therefore create confusion and don’t ruin the story line. The first image is of the girl who tells of a prophecy of an eclipse, and a black jaguar. The images that follow her are of the eclipse and a black jaguar, and a tribal painting of a decapitation. This shows instantly to the audience that it is a period drama and what period it is set in and also gives us a brief understanding of the audience. The beginning of the trailer is very slow again conforming to the conventions of an action trailer.
After this initial section we are presented with images of a peaceful rainforest and a joyous tribe, this confuses the audience as they are expecting fast pace trailers, but they are trying to set the scene. Between each shot they fade to white, this reflects the light nature of the beginning of the film and these elements of the film. The fades for transitions also indicating time change from the beginning of the trailer to the middle of it and also to reflect the peacefulness of the beginning of the trailer and therefore the beginning of the story. There is then a series of intimidating short shots separated with fades to black in between each shot. At the beginning of the trailer the shots fade to white, as they now fade to black the audience now realise that it has become sinister. The fades relates all the images together and makes them seem important, it also makes the distance between them seem really long and adds anticipation and suspension to the mood.
There is then a series of shot of generally scenery from Central America and the important names relating to production. We as an audience are then presented with a series of clips from the film in chronological order to when they happen in the film showing us a brief storyline. We see the tribal life that the characters live in, we can instantly see it is based in the rainforest due to their surroundings and their costume. We are presented with the statement 'comes a journey into a lost world, like nothing you’ve experienced' this adds challenge to the audience making them more inclined to watch the film, it also adds a sense of jeopardy. It also excites the audience and leaves them sitting on the edge of their seat as they want to see what happens next after been shown a possibly dangerous and exciting set of scenes which has been broken up by these titles and captions. A series of striking shots are then layered on top of each other and are very quickly shown to us, speeding up as we move through. It then slows all the way down and shows images of a peaceful nature. It then speeds up again once more showing fast pace movement and fighting, these images move so fast that the audience has little chance to make sense of the shots they have seen, this confuses the audience but also transfixes them as they are trying to work it out. By separating the two action elements of the trailers with a slow down love situation in the middle they are appealing directly to their audience. Action viewers don’t just want gore, fast pace films otherwise they would watch horror films, and they want something similar but less horrific with a softer nature to it as well
The music initially starts off eerie at the beginning of the trailer with loud symbol strikes as the images change to enhance their importance. The music then changes to tribal peaceful music as the audience is introduced to the tribe, whilst everything is peaceful. There is the introduction for the audience and therefore allows them to gain an understanding, the music emphasises the relaxed peaceful nature. The music then takes a sinister tone as we are shown the 'badies'. It slows right down and works in time with the images shown, this excites the audience and leaves the anticipating the next thing. After this the music progresses and drum beats begin, the drum strikes on the important images adding emphasis to them. The drum role reinforces the tribal and gradually speeds up through the trailer as the storyline begins to unfold. This therefore speeds up the audience’s heartbeat as it matches in time. It builds up and increases in volume until it finally stops and we are presented with the statement 'as a civilisation comes to an end'- this makes the audience question what happens and as it is the ending of the music it reinforces the statement as it all suddenly goes silent.
This trailer fulfils most of the conventions of action trailers as it includes:
Jeopardy
Jump cuts
A heroine
Sped up through out the trailer
Shot clips put together
A group of 'badys'
Fast pace, gripping music.
The next action trailer I decided to look at was Transporter 3 (Transporter 3 Trailer), I will now compare and contrast between Transporter 3 and Apocalypto trailers. Transporter, like Apocalypto begins with a series of key images that fade to black. These provide the audience with a setting and key scenes of importance. There is a constant dialogue throughout this section, which has been taken from the film. It is two men talking; this implies the significance of this dialogue. As these short shots finish we are shown the scene in which the dialogue is coming from. Up until this point the music has been quiet with a fast pace drumbeat. As we reach this scene the music stops. The music then comes back full volume and very heavy to the next scene which depicts a man fighting off various men. We assume the central man is the main character of the film as they are all against him. We therefore again have one heroine with a series of enemies. There is a series of jump cuts used to add speed and too excite the audience, and also to not give away too much of the scene or show too much violence.
This is similar to the Apocalypto trailer as all elements of violence where shown briefly, this may be due to the fact that the directors and editors had to make the trailer suitable to all ages, and therefore they could not focus on violence. 24 seconds into the trailer we are presented with the production companies logo, this again is the same as Apocalypto, this breaks up the trailer, and as you are already paying attention as the trailer has drawn you in, you are more likely to remember the production company. We are then presented with a series of close ups and extreme close ups mixed with long shots of a character, this shows the importance of this character. This is different to Apocalypto as in Apocalypto shot types mainly consisted of long shots, close ups or mid shots. The dialogue again continues showing various shots of key scenes and flicking between the scenes that the dialogue originates from. This shows the connection between the shots been shown. Again the music stops and the main character say 'on one condition, I drive my own car'- this is a typical aspect of an action film and therefore is included in the trailer. We are presented with a fast car, guns, weapons, technology and a female. These again are common aspects of an action film and therefore have appeared in the trailer so that the audience can categorise this film into the action genre.
This is very different to Apocalypto. Although a female is present, she has been presented in a different way, the female in Transporter 3 has been presented in a sexual manner, and where as the female in Apocalypto is presented as a loving character. Although we are presented with weapons in the trailer for Apocalypto they are very different. The reason why these two films share differences is due to the fact they are set in different time eras and there is a difference in culture and society between the two films, therefore resulting in differences in mise en scene. The next few shot are shot with a fast pan showing the speed of the film and exciting the audience. This is similar to the shot Mel Gibson has used in Apocalypto where we see the main character being chased through the jungle by his enemies; although the context is different the effect is still the same- excitement and anticipation.
For the rest of the trailer we are presented with a series of action shots taken from scenes of the film, they jump cut at a fast pace therefore again exciting the audience, this is the same as Apocalypto's editing techniques. There is also a voice over stating the realise date and captions of key information such as the release date and actors. The actor is the unique selling point of the film and is therefore emphasised by putting it into a caption, this is the same as Apocalypto as Mel Gibson is the unique selling point and his name has also been put into a caption. Transporter 3 fulfils the genre of an action film trailer as it includes:
Fast pace music
Jump cuts
A sense of jeopardy
A heroine
A series or 'bady's'
High-speed footage
The main differences between Apocalypto and Transporter 3 are the result of differences in setting and eras, this therefore influences the technology used, although both have used similar editing techniques and sound techniques to produce a gripping, fast pace, action filled trailer.
I have discovered that the difference between horror and action films is that action films contain another gripping storyline; they aren’t as scary but are faster pace.
I then began to look at the campaign for Apocalypto. I decided to look at the film poster. (Shown to the left) As you can see the image shows silhouette of one of the characters, but it isn’t the main character, this is unusual as normally the main character features on the front cover, but instead the lead nemesis of the heroine does. Instantly from the image the audience can see that the film is set In Aztec times due to the pyramid in the background. The washed out colours makes the image appear sinister and interesting. This is unusual for an action film as usually the poster reflects the fast pace action of the film, where as the character walking towards the camera appears to be stumbling rather than running with his head slumped. The 1st title of the poster is 'Mel Gibson'- a famous actor and director, this is the unique selling point of the film, something that this film has that no other film has.The fact there is no major colours present in the poster makes it appear eerie, serious and sinister reflecting the style of film that it is. The caption 'no one can outrun their destiny' creates anticipation and a sense of jeopardy to the film; this reflects the genre of action. This poster is unusual for an action film as normally they include a scene of violence or something that will portray an action film. For example the poster to the left for Transporter 3 shows a man mid action shot with a gun, instantly showing the audience that the film is and action film. Both posters have used minimal colours and have focused more on form by sing a black and white image rather than colour. Both feature main characters to the film but the Transporter 3's image of the actor is a lot more clear than the Apocalypto image, this may because the actor of Transporter 3 is the unique selling point for the film, where as Apocalypto's unique selling point is Mel Gibson as the director.
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