The Girl on the Train: Trailer Analysis 1

The trailer for The Girl on the Train is very modern in comparison to older thriller trailers such as Seven. The Girl on the Train trailer uses no narration, but uses a little bit of the films dialogue to help the audience understand what is going on. Thriller trailers used to have narration; however narration in trailers is perceived as generally quite dated, and now tend to have captions instead in hand with some dialogue from the film characters. But The Girl on the Train does follow thriller trailer conventions such as dim lighting, slow paced editing going into fast paced editing, enigma codes being left out for the audience to make the film more intriguing, the increasing speed of the non-diegetic music and then becoming synchronous sound by being in time with the fast paced editing. Although this modern trailer does include thriller paradigms, it also challenges the expectations, particularly the fact that the lead role is in fact a woman. In thriller films the majority of the lead roles will go to men for example, Zodiac, Shutter Island and Prisoners. However The Girl on the Train has taken the female lead approach like Silence of the Lambs and Gone Girl.

Media Language

There’s a lot going on in terms of mise-en-scene, there’s dimly lit scenes contrasting with bright daylight scenes, dull and sombre colours throughout the films colour scheme with the set and characters clothing. Even pathetic fallacy is used to portray the unwelcoming and cold colours that reflect the mood of the film and the characters emotions. The settings are based in the countryside of New York, so there are lots of woodland, small and quiet neighbourhoods with big houses towns and shops, so the general feel of the settings is very quiet, little bit isolated and empty. At the beginning, the pace of the editing in the first half is quite slow along with the music, but further into the trailer the tension picks up, the action and violence begins to show, the pace of the editing quickens by using short synchronised cuts with trailer sound effects. The use of dip to black transitions with jump cuts is used as a simple effect for the fast scene transitions. Some of the main camera angles used would definitely close ups to emphasise the emotion of the characters, particularly Emily Blunts character that is seen crying in the last part of the trailer with a close up focusing on her face as she cries to highlight her emotions. A POV shot is used in the second half of the trailer from the perspective of a person walking behind a woman and grabbing her hair violently, this makes the shot quite intense and unique by not seeing the violence from the victim’s perspective. A smash cut was also used midway through the trailer as a train goes by as it enters the frame the scene abruptly changes almost as a sudden jump scare in a way. Throughout the trailer the same soundtrack is used the majority of the duration, however at the beginning a simple yet effective piano sound (along with train sound effects part way through) to create a calm atmosphere in order to be juxtaposed with the fast paced and complex soundtrack later on.

SE7EN: Trailer Analysis 2

SE7EN follows the conventions of crime thriller trailers; a voice over is used, so are captions, almost all of the cast is male dominated and predictable settings feature such as Police headquarters, offices, crime scenes and miserable crime ridden streets. Upon reflection, SE7EN is at completely opposite ends of the spectrum, when compared to The girl on the train and Gone Girl; due to it's more modern style and how it challenges certain aspects of what is expected in crime thrillers by having a female lead. Although SE7EN may seem formulaic from a modern audiences perspective, and more specifically the thriller demographic, the trailer and film still has the ability to captivate and entertain today's audience no matter how long ago it was released. However, it has been refreshing to see strong matriarchal leads take place in the spotlight for a genre that is so heavily associated with powerful, intelligent and hard-working men. Like in most crime films, the women are very rarely the protagonists, which is the case for SE7EN since their most significant female role is somewhat quite low down in comparison to the men, she is portrayed as kind, vulnerable and emotional. But no matter what the gender of the lead roles, a crime film can still be enjoyable either way. It is clear that this film is quite old due to the trailers dated style with the voice over narrating at small points throughout, which isn't much of a convention as it used to be for the majority of different genres currently, and not just crime thrillers.

SE7EN follows the typical format of having a slow first half and then building up the action and anticipation by speeding it up towards the end. This is done by changing the non-diegetic sound; the soundtrack from the beginning is slow, simplistic and not overwhelming as the beginning has to establish a general understanding of the narrative. Eventually the music and sound effects increase in tempo and becomes synchronous sound as it is in time with the speed of the change of shots and fits with the action and suspense.

SE7EN ticks all the boxes for crime paradigms, as this particular genre is already provided with it's own conventions but some of those expectations must be included: such as their use of having police cars, helicopters, dead bodies, crime scene evidence, chase scenes, press interviews and news reports. After watching the trailer carefully, we have drawn inspiration from it in some aspects as it is conventional and formulaic, but perfectly demonstrates what to include in order to gain those generic conventions.

Media Language

The colour scheme throughout is extremely powerful; some colours contrast vividly and compliment each other by being completely different. This is demonstrated when the trailer commences with a sombre and mundane palette, and then these colours are contrasted with an intense red neon light of the crucifix. For the rest of the trailer, the palette constantly transitions from a dull colour scheme (with elements of pathetic fallacy of the rain, highlighting the colour and tone even more), then showing bright red with the fast paced captions of the seven deadly sins. The colours, weather and lighting all suggest that this film takes place in a city of despair engulfed in crime with people who feel unhappy, hopeless and vulnerable. These particular micro-aspects forebode the inevitable that more ruin and horrendous acts of homicide will ultimately take place, and that feeling is carried through from beginning to end in the trailer.

A wide variety of camera angles are used and create a diverse range of effects: close ups are used to reveal more of the characters emotion such as the one used on Morgan Freeman's character showing the reflection of the work  on his glasses to suggest he takes his job seriously and his character has a lot of determination, focus and devotion to his case and his job. When the red crucifix appears in shot the camera pans as if someone is walking by and looking at it maybe the killer or the detectives. Crab angle of the killers feet so that he remains mysterious and unidentifiable by the audience and the characters, a drone shot of the police helicopter to emphasise the threat and urgency of finding the person responsible for the homicides. One the anticipation builds POV and hand-held is used, the POV could be from the perspective of the murderer or the detectives and is left open to interpretation and the hand-held would be to enhance and highlight the action and suspense. Several times fade to black and fade to white is used, on a couple of occasions the fade to white is used for a camera flash effect which is what me and my group have implemented a fade to white transition too achieve the camera flash effect for our crime scene. Jump cuts are used to create an effect of increasing the speed duration for the climax and to made the transition  to scenes sudden and frantic to convey to the audience that their time is limited.

Film Poster Research: Sicario Film Poster Analysis

Sicario (2015) film poster analysis:

Sicario’s colour scheme on this poster reflects the look of the film and trailer. The specific colours encapsulate the atmosphere, and the tone of the film.  The colours used in this poster symbolise different elements and themes of the film for example, the hints of red scattered around the picture may symbolise the blood, danger and death in the film. The dark smoky colours may represent sadness, hopelessness and loss and may also represent the smoke from the explosions as some dust clouds are in the poster. The colour palette is generally quite simplistic but they contrast well and are useful semiotic colours that perfectly reflect the themes in Sicario.

Sicario is a crime thriller/ mystery and has strong elements and expected objects from crime films in the poster, such as the SWAT member standing all covered up, protected and armed. The other FBI agents have bullet proof vests and guns and ear pieces for communication to show that their mission is extreme and serious, and involves tactical skills and planning for a big operation or a raid. Other soldier members are pictured walking in a derelict place fully armed, this tells us that this is more of a military operation and requires more force than just the police who are pictured at the bottom of the poster with all of their cars. This shows that a lot of people who are military, FBI, SWAT and police will be involved and that the violence and action is guaranteed for the audience. Just from looking at the poster you can tell that the settings are based in quite a run-down area that’s filled with crime, due to the dusty and barren shots with the soldiers, the destruction surrounding the police cars at the bottom. It’s clear who the lead protagonist is due to the actress Emily Blunt, being the biggest picture in the montage and the entire catastrophe occurring in and around her. This could suggest that all of the devastation is overwhelming her and the barbed wire could potentially be a representation of torment, imprisonment on a personal or wide spread level.

Film Poster Research: The Jungle Book (2016) Film Poster Analysis

The Jungle Book (2016):

The Jungle Books’ main colour scheme or palette is dark green and some yellows on this poster, the green is present to represent the jungle and all of the wildlife that surround Mowgli and the yellow colours that surround Mowgli are there to emphasise that he is different to all of the creatures in the jungle. The title is large and bold but is placed at the bottom so that it doesn’t take away too much attention from what is going on in the picture; the title is almost like a rustic gold perhaps to relate to the ancient ruins and artefacts left behind in the jungle but also that the wilderness has taken over. This is also reflected in the background with the crumbling arch with the snake and the thick vines intertwined; the font blends in with the habitat to encapsulate the jungle rustic look. The camera angle of the poster is positioned in a certain way in order to not reveal too much of what the characters will look like, making it really obscure and hard to see their faces. This will leave more to the imaginations for the audience.

Film Poster Research: Guardians of the Galaxy Poster Analysis

The Guardians of the Galaxy (2014):

This film poster contains a lot of bold and vivid colours on a wide spectrum, this is to emphasise the other worldliness of the film as it is set in another galaxy, and involves venturing into space and visiting other planets. The layout is quite simplistic as it has a lot going on in the background; the title is the biggest text on the poster, this is to captivate the audience’s attention by making the film title stand out. Above the film title is the name of the film studio but much smaller in size but still promotes the film company without taking away any attention from the film title. The names of the leading actors are listed above in a slightly smaller font but with the same colours as the film title. The gold font stands out from the busy multi-coloured background, hence why the text is all the same colour except the film company logo. The film is promoted in a way to appeal to obviously MARVEL fans but also to people who enjoy action and sci-fi films, this is demonstrated by showing that all the lead characters are from different planets and are different species to one another; they are all wearing unconventional clothing which emphasises how alien they are as well. Most of the characters are armed with other worldly weapons e.g. laser guns, behind the characters are hundreds of space ships surrounding them, hinting to the idea that there will be conflict and space chase scenes throughout, therefore promising the audience space action that may appeal to hard-core Star Wars fans. In the top right corner there is a planet which suggests that this space adventure and action film will be larger than life, as the Guardians of the Galaxy explore their world and the universe around it.