http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2014/03/29/echo/
ECHO follows 17-year-old Caroline, as she receives a phone call delivering the tragic news that her dad has been involved in a motorbike accident. Her unexpected reaction reveals there is more to this call then first appears.
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The film begins with a wide-angle continuous shot of a street scene; we are interrupted a phone call as the main character emerges from the crowd to answer it. The shot follows the teenager round a corner as she answers the call, switching to a close up to reveal the reaction of the actor. It suggests immediately that bad news has been delivered, the sense of shock and distant pain in her face is apparent. The camera transitions to quick cuts, as the character breaks down revealing to the audience that something is immediately wrong. For the entire film, the camera focuses on the character's face to portray her emotion, being false as she is lying to people so that they help her. It really catches the audience's attention as we believe we are watching a genuine emotional experience. The lighting in the film is natural during the day, a normal city scene, and kept minimal during the night scene hinting at the mystery that surrounds her strange reactions to the call. Focus remains on Caroline, the main character, constantly as to keep clear attention on her reactions and blur out her surroundings.
In my opinion, she repeats this 'incident' because she tries to retain the memory of her dad who has already died but wants to hold on the fact he's still alive until she gets the call. It's also reminiscent of the Boy who cried wolf, she's exploiting people into thinking she's distressed to get them give her money. But he question still remains, who is making the call?
We can apply Todorov's narrative theory to ECHO; it starts with Caroline's reaction to the call which is followed by going to the hospital. This is the point where we realize something is wrong, the 'equilibrium' is disrupted by an unexpected action, her getting out the cab. The protagonists' brother catches on to this disruption as he notices Caroline re-enacting the same sequence of events the next day, getting people to help her get to the hospital to see her dad. When she sees her brother, she stops the charade. His intervention makes Caroline almost realizes that what she's doing is wrong and could get her in trouble. However at the end of the film, it ends as it begins with her repeating the incident once more; yet a lot more intense and emotional, with quicker camera cuts and jerkier camera motion.
Viewers of this particular short film would be fans of the independent film scene, young actors and small time directors that use the website Short of The Week.
Gangster Squad Trailer
The purpose of film trailers are to promote the work of a production team, the film branding and offer a preview for a target audience. These can be shown on TV as short adverts, on radio as a soundtrack or prior to films shown in cinema or on DVD; to advertise a film similar to the interests and demographic profile of the target audience. It identifies the genre of the film and connotes the pace of the trailer; by using quick cuts, cross cuts and jump cuts for transitions as well as short takes and rapid fade ins and outs creating tension, excitement and pace. As for it's content, Action scenes, gunfights and explosions are features that easily denote that Gangster Squad is an Action, Thriller and Drama genre while the presence of police and criminals tells us that it is also Crime Fiction. Therefore audience members are fans of these genres, young adults but mainly aimed at the 18-25 age range.
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The verisimilitude of this film is consistently professional; the subtitles, scenes, props, soundtrack and costumes all cohere with the time period and genre. This combines to create an excellent diegesis.
The use of language in the Trailer tells us that the audience demographic is 18+, those who enjoy action cinema and the 40's era of Swing, Speakeasy's and Los Angeles Nightlife culture.
- Quick Cuts - Connotes a quick paced film. Conveys to the audience the genre and narrative of the film (i.e. Action scenes, gunfights/explosions etc.)
- Continuity - Soundtrack, Titles, Scene, Props and Costumes all cohere with the time period and genre
- Cross Cuts/Jump Cuts - Action, advances the narrative
- Short Takes/Rapid Fade Ins and outs - Creates tension, excitement and pace
- Introduced with the plot's issue - Micky Cohen, Mob Boss
- Dialogue played over clips - Important quotes to the narrative
- Genre - Crime Fiction, Drama, Action, Thriller
Black Mirror - White Bear Trailer
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The trailer for Black Mirror creates a mystery, one that attracts the audience to watch it find out what's actually going on. This is achieved by implementing small hints about the narrative; such as the cutaway clip of the girl. Furthermore it creates an enticing hook by revealing some of the narrative which grips the audience prompting them to watch the program to discover the conclusion to the story. The camera work and editing intentionally drives the narrative quickly by employing rapid cuts and short takes of long scenes. This is done to retain a tense atmosphere throughout while making the viewer focus on the main character as she is present in the majority of clips. The soundtrack escalates proportional to the intensifying action while significant quotes are overlapped to show parts of the narrative without uncovering the mystery surrounding the trailer. The trailer follows the chronological order of the story, which tells the audience about what might happen and how particular events lead to others; without revealing the enigma of White Bear. The audience of Black Mirror may be fans of the Director, Charlie Booker's eclectic film style, fans of mystery genre
Se7en Trailer
The trailer for this acclaimed mystery thriller begins with a low brooding tone, instantly connotes the genre; in conjunction with the dark filtered vignetted visuals this trailer shares characteristics of film noir, designating Se7en as a Mystery Thriller. Viewers of this trailer would most likely be people who were watching a similar film in cinema, typically between the ages of 16 and 30. The content in this video denotes what we expect to see in this film and suggests an older target audience based on the images of crime scenes, gore and weapons. It beginning at a slow pace and leads to a heightened drama brought about by a rise in pace and action themed soundtrack; an obvious connotation of the tension that is built up throughout this story. The psychological element is brought out through the repetition of the names of the 7 deadly sins, around which the story revolves around. Quick cuts, faded transitions and the use of those subtitles again reinforces the action genre of the movie, an exciting persuasion for audiences to watch Seven. The trailer in whole condenses the film to lead its audience into curiosity and ultimately is for the purpose of getting people to watch Seven in cinema without ruining too much of the plot. It follows the careers of two detectives, Detective Somerset who has lived in this 'city of sin' all his life and Detective Mills who has joined the case to catch the murderer behind these religious inspired crimes. The trailer has achieved establishing a mystery in which the protagonists must solve in order to catch the killer.
You're Next Trailer
The trailer for Black Mirror creates a mystery, one that attracts the audience to watch it find out what's actually going on. This is achieved by implementing small hints about the narrative; such as the cutaway clip of the girl. Furthermore it creates an enticing hook by revealing some of the narrative which grips the audience prompting them to watch the program to discover the conclusion to the story. The camera work and editing intentionally drives the narrative quickly by employing rapid cuts and short takes of long scenes. This is done to retain a tense atmosphere throughout while making the viewer focus on the main character as she is present in the majority of clips. The soundtrack escalates proportional to the intensifying action while significant quotes are overlapped to show parts of the narrative without uncovering the mystery surrounding the trailer. The trailer follows the chronological order of the story, which tells the audience about what might happen and how particular events lead to others; without revealing the enigma of White Bear. The audience of Black Mirror may be fans of the Director, Charlie Booker's eclectic film style, fans of mystery genre
Se7en Trailer
The trailer for this acclaimed mystery thriller begins with a low brooding tone, instantly connotes the genre; in conjunction with the dark filtered vignetted visuals this trailer shares characteristics of film noir, designating Se7en as a Mystery Thriller. Viewers of this trailer would most likely be people who were watching a similar film in cinema, typically between the ages of 16 and 30. The content in this video denotes what we expect to see in this film and suggests an older target audience based on the images of crime scenes, gore and weapons. It beginning at a slow pace and leads to a heightened drama brought about by a rise in pace and action themed soundtrack; an obvious connotation of the tension that is built up throughout this story. The psychological element is brought out through the repetition of the names of the 7 deadly sins, around which the story revolves around. Quick cuts, faded transitions and the use of those subtitles again reinforces the action genre of the movie, an exciting persuasion for audiences to watch Seven. The trailer in whole condenses the film to lead its audience into curiosity and ultimately is for the purpose of getting people to watch Seven in cinema without ruining too much of the plot. It follows the careers of two detectives, Detective Somerset who has lived in this 'city of sin' all his life and Detective Mills who has joined the case to catch the murderer behind these religious inspired crimes. The trailer has achieved establishing a mystery in which the protagonists must solve in order to catch the killer.
You're Next Trailer
Trailers for horror films are generally expected to begin with mystery and tease at the horror via 'jump scares', yet this trailer in particular initially suggests a completely alternative genre through a calming 'romantic' soundtrack.
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When the theme finally emerges, through the masks reflection in the window, the audience is dragged into the plot via sudden striking noises, quick cut fade to black shots and sense of panic in the acting gesture of the protagonists. An arrow crashes through a window, connoting a 'break' in our expectations of an alternative genre film, killing one of the characters. In terms of lighting, the trailer starts with natural coverage transforming into bleak and dark coloration, reflecting the change in genre. This trailer is made effective through matching it's soundtrack with visuals extremely well, crescendos match when the antagonists appear on screen and suggestively kill one of their victims. The gore gives an obvious indication to the type of audience for You're Next, most likely being over 18. Props used in the trailer include the masks which are integral to the film's plot which is set in a remote country house. This is quite a typical setting for horror films as the protagonists are unable to get help. I think the meaning behind this trailer is to lure it's viewers into a false sense of security by proposing a fake genre; this proves that horror can emerge from anywhere.
