A2 media : Detailed deconstruction of 2 film trailers with reference to 3 more (PAULINE KATE BALUYUT)

Detailed deconstruction of 2 film trailers with reference to 3 more

In this post I will be analysing two social realism, independent film trailers. This analysis will help me understand conventions of trailers in greater detail thus helping us achieve an outcome which coincides with existing social realism trailer conventions and will target our target audience in the best possible way.

Independent film trailers

kidulthood

The film Kidulthood, was released in the UK in 2006. It is an independent film that explores the genre of drama. It was released like all independent films with a low budget of £600,000 and was directed by Menhaj Huda. The whole film lasts for 1 hour and 29 minutes.
It has a 15+ certification because from the trailer it shows that the film is about a group of teenagers, involved in a series of crimes such as stealing, abuse and gun crime, the film deals with teenage pregnancy, delinquency, drug use, sexual and violent themes with the use of bad language.

The trailer itself, lasts for 2.05 minutes. It uses a mixture of diegetic and non diegetic sounds. It is set in a deprived, lower class area in London.

The audience immediately knows roughly the plotline of the story, as I felt that the trailer gave too much detail away - there were too many clips used.

The first thing that the audience is shown, is the production company's logo.

The second thing that the viewer is shown is the film's name. I found that this was an odd thing to have done, as most trailers opt to have the name of their film near the end.

But after I watched the trailer again I noticed that they used the name of the film again, but this time they placed this near the end.

This trailer uses fades near the beginning, as it helps prepare viewers for what is to come - at this point the song is still fairly slow when compared to later scenes.
Another convention the trailer uses is quick cuts, this is used along with the fast paced music. Viewers won't have time to digest clips/scenes - as they are bombarded with scenes of violence, crime and sexual themes. Some audiences may be so shocked that they are curious to find out more about the film, thus they go to watch the movie itself.

I generally found most of the clips that were used extremely short, as some didn't even last for a whole second.

The music in the background is rap, it is fast paced and seems to be on time with the clips of the trailer, for example when the singer says the word "spending" the image of cash appears in the clip.

It uses a lot of medium shots and medium close up shots. These are both typical social realism film conventions. Medium shots are used here to display and show the emotions of the characters and their body expressions.

Text is another convention that this trailer uses. The particular text they use, informs that before the more prominent sequel, "Adulthood" this film was released. This will attract fans of adulthood to watch kidulthood.

The last clip ends with the song abruptly stopping and the diegetic sound of one of the main male characters saying "bye mum" as he closes the door. This is ironic as the trailer showed this particular character to be heavily into crime.

The last bit that the viewers see, is the credits.

The costumes that were used in this social realism/drama trailer are:
Hoodies
Hates
Jeans
Rough looking school uniform
Fish net tights
Hoop earrings
Business suit
Rings
Necklaces

Props that were used in this trailer:
Gun
Phone
Wine bottle
cigarette
mic
money
baseball bat

Unknown actors were used

target audience for this trailer
The primary target audience for the movie of Kidulthood, are those aged 15 years old or older. This is because, the film focuses on group of teenagers and is certificated 15+. So by focusing on a group of teenagers, they are sure to attract the attentions of existing teenagers as these audiences can relate easily to the plot. They teenagers who are likely to live in poverty struck places, and are often seen with a large group of friends.It is aimed for mostly the male audience as a smaller portion of females are shown in the whole trailer.

the secondary target audience of this film are those a little younger than 15 years, this is because those a little younger such as 13/14 years old, may want to look 'tough' and are interested in the things that they are forbidden to watch.

Bullet Boy

Bullet boy was released in the UK in 2004. It is an independent social realism film which was directed by Saul Dibb. Like Kidulthood, it is a film that lasts for 1 hour and 29 minutes. It is also certifictaed 15+.
Again the film is located in London in a economically deprived area, with a high crime rate.
It focuses on a newly prison released young person, who is trying to have a 'brand new' life.

The trailer deals with themes/scenes of knife crime, sexual themes, violence, broken family and contains bad language. It lasts for 1.27 minutes.

Only quick cuts are used in this trailer. The clips are short yet still longer than Kidulthood's clips.

The first thing the audiences see is the production company's logo. Here it is Verve pictures.

The next thing the audience is shown, is a young boy being woken up with armed security guards screaming to open the door. This clip only lasts for about three seconds until a text appears to help engage the reader's attention. The phrase "there are thousands of guns on your streets" makes the viewers question themselves on what this could possibly mean.

The music is made using a piano, it is slow - possibly hinting to the viewers that it film ends with a sad ending.
Throughout the trailer a series of text appears. Some of the texts are phrases that hint the film's plotline, others are simply one word reviews to attract attention and make people more willing to watch it.

Like Kidulthood, Bullet boy uses mainly medium and medium close up shots in its trailer. Below is a medium close up shot of the protagonist.

The trailer uses a mixture of instrumental music and diegetic sound -the music they used is slow paced unlike Kidulthood.

The last clip is placed after the appearance of the film's name. This clip doesn't hint the film's ending as it was randomly taken from the films mid-point. After this clip the film's release date is shown.

The trailer ends with the credits. This contains the names of the actors and the production company.

The costumes that were used in this social realism/drama trailer are:
Hoodies
Tracksuits
Police uniform
Primary school uniform
Coat

Props that were used in this trailer:
Baseball bat
gun
Paper

target audience for this trailer
Even though it's certificated 15+, Bullet boy's primary target audience are males aged 18 years and above. This is because the main character/protagonist (which is ironic seeing as he has just gotten out of prison) is a lot older than this. Which means young adults who are living in a high crime rated neighbourhoods, will find this more relatable.

The secondary target audience are those teenagers around the age of 15. They feel that by watching this film they can look more tough so that they can please their friends. They hang around in massive groups and live in urban areas such as London.

What I may include in my trailer:

Use props such as, fake gun or baseball bat
Use costumes such as hoodies and school uniform
Include a production company's logo
include a release date
include film name which should be placed near the end
Include credits
Include engaging and hinting text
explore the issues/themes of delinquency, crime and bad language
Have a background music - fast paced
Setting should be in London

Mainstream film trailers

Divergent (2014)

Conventions used, in order beginning to last:

1. Green screen
2. Flashes of black screen
3. Close up shots and medium shots
4. production company's logo
5. Texts that promote the movie
6. Name of the film
7. date of film release

Well known actors are used. CGI (computer generated imagery) is also used.