Textual analysis - Mirrors

The horror film 'Mirrors' was released in 2008, the film is all based around mirrors (as reflected in the title) and their reflection which carry out horrific and gory actions carried out by their own accord.

The trailer opens with pleasant weather to reflect that the mood is neutral and normal, however pathetic fallacy is then used as the weather and colouring turns darker to reflect the mood and feeling of storyline and the characters. The trailer also opens with mysterious music quickly showing and establishing the family house to the audience, however we then hear the sound of a young childlike voice talking to himself or so we think. Many horror films choose to feature young children in their films as it often adds a creepy effect to the film for example in the film 'the sixth sense' the main focus in the film is the young boy who has a sixth sense to see ghosts, this makes the film more mysterious as children are often seen as happy and viewed in a more positive light. When the young boy in mirrors is asked a question at the beginning of the teaser trailer the background music appears to get higher in pitch adding tension which alerts the audience that something is not right about the situation, this is also created by the hand held camera shot creeping behind the boy's mother which gives the effect that someone is behind her, the over the shoulder shot is reguarly used as it gives off the impression someone/something is possibly watching them. A loud thud followed by a scream reflects to the audience that there is something more to the mirrors, this is then followed by the repition of loud, deep beats this could possibly reflect the frantic heartbeat of the mother and father. The close up of the door handle and the squeeky diegetic sound is stereotypical in horror and makes the audience feel uneasy about the situation. To add more nail-biting effects the director's have used quick, fast paced editing which almost looks like a blink of an eye focusing on different shots. In the conventions screaming/crying voices are usually featured in most teaser trailers, 'Mirrors' does use this convention to create panic and confusion. The trailer also displays narration but through the form of text which in every several seconds shows the audiences messages such as 'Within these walls', 'Lives an evil', 'Beyond our world' all of these pieces of text are very confusing and mysterious to the audience which makes them want to discover the meaning. The director uses the adjective 'evil' to describe the terror existing in the film, this is viewed by many people as a negative word and harsh to describe something which therefore makes the narration more dramatic.
I have noticed that the trailer uses nearly all of the typical codes and conventions such as the use of picking out dramatic words and sentences which the character's used for example "I'm so scared" reflects the fear in which the family are going through, another example would be "what if the mirrors are making us do things which we don't want to do" this piece of speech which is used in the trailer projects to the audience that the family must have a lack of control over the mirrors and have to figure out how to stop the weird goings on.
A further example of a convention which is used is that the title of the film is featured at the end of the trailer to add a thrilling and suspensful ending. However towards the ending of the trailer a creepy and spine chilling child's laugh is heard this also adds a shuddersome affect to the audience.
"Don't be scared mummy i just want you to come and play with us" this phrase again reflects the weird creepyness in which a child can create in a horror film, the use of the word 'mummy' almost adds inoscence to the phrase which is also deepened with the use of editing which displays his 'other person' in the mirror, as this is said the close up reveals to the audience not only the child but also his reflection.

The conventions of film trailers

Before specifically focusing on one set genre I am going to gather together the conventions used in trailers in general.

• Firstly there are always voice overs featured in a film trailer as this is used as a speaking narrative for the audience. It is also often used to build up tension especially when used in the horror genre.
• Often close-ups are used so that the audience can familiarise with the characters and places, by using close-ups the directors do not give away too much.
• Montages and fast-paced editing is extrememly popular in trailers, and often the editing hops back and fourth from quick to slow this keeps the audience interested whilst watching the trailer.
• Non-diegetic music is featured often at the beginning of the trailer so that it can set the scene and the tone of the trailer.
• The title of the film is featured at the end of the trailer this is because it makes the trailer appear more dramatic, words and text can be used throughout the trailer acting as narration picking out key words which fit the codes and conventions of the genre.
• Often trailers feature dramatic words or phrases used by one or some of the characters featured in the film, this is to perhaps make the film appear exciting and possibly make the audience want to know more.
• They always end in cliffhangers and not give the ending away so that it gives enough for the audience to go and see the film.
  
  Conventions of Horror trailers
  When watching a horror trailer there are many key conventions which the producers use to create fear and excitement. At first trailers usually give off a happy atmosphere so that the audience can become familar with the main characters and environment. However mysterious and creepy music is often featured to show the negative downfall and to make clear the horror genre of the film. Other conventions used in horror are the final girl, a frightening place, themes of death/destruction and iconography such as knives and masks. The frightening place is often a castle or an isolated house however in the horror film 'Scream' the main location is that in a domestic home this then disobeys the conventions of horror as a domestic home is seen as warmely and comforting and creates a false illusion. However in 'Scream' they use classic icons of horror that also immediately signify fear for example a knife can be seen as an extremely violent weapon. 'Scream' is also clever as in it presumes that the audience know of the key conventions used in horror as they are frequently used and discussed. The location in horror films and horror trailers often turns very gloomy and the weather is often raining or dramatic thunderstorms are present. Generally narration is used to tell the audience the story in brief and give them an image on what the film is about, this is often used by short quotes of texts which often use dramatic words or phrases from the film which could perhaps make the audience want to find out more. The diegetic sound used reguarly features screaming or shouting, the screaming featured can be young children as this appears more spooky and spine tingling as children are never normally viewed in this light.

LIIAR of film trailers

Language

One of the first and most important aspects involved in film trailers is the type of language needed in a film trailer, the language used has to be persuasive to draw the audience in to seeing the film. It also has to be interesting and appealing otherwise the film would not be successful.
To achieve this trailers always include a non-diegetic voice over which is often spoken in a very deep and mysterious manner, this could also perhaps be seen as one of the key conventions used in trailers as this helps achieve the films popularity. The Voice over generally works as the narrative but in an intriging story telling format.
The text on screen in which small but meaningful quotes are featured are also a key part of the trailers selling point as this joins together with the voice over to form a strong narrative structure, the text featured is to project key themes and possibly summarise the plot.
Reguarly film trailers feature snippets of dialogue from the film such as essential parts, for example if it was a horror film it would feature screaming and dramatic phrases said by the main characters.

Institution

The most popular and successful film trailers are often produced by the following production teams such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, MGM and Fox-Filmed Entertainment.
However up until the late 1950s trailers were mostly created by National Screen service and mainly consisted of just key scenes from the film. With the boost of Hollywood in the 1960s trailers changed introducing the likes of montages and fast paced editing this format was frequently used by Andrew. J Kuehn who became extremely popular and then ended up opening the West Coast office of Kaleidoscope Films in 1968, therefore Kuehn became the major player in producing trailers and enforcing specific and important morals and values for the target audience.

Ideology

Ideology is a set of beliefs and specific values, this is then applied to the film trailer to project the institutions opinions to the audience.
For example a film which is targeted at teenagers would perhaps feature Sex, drugs, alcohol etc the instition could display this as being bad and create a film trailer and show the extreme effects of drugs.

Audience

Every film produced has a target audience as this helps the institution to specify and attract the specific audience. An example of this would be the genre horror as this is very popular with teenagers to attract this target audience horror often features sex, drugs and alcohol but perhaps in a more negative light to show the consequences.
If it was a romance film stereotypically this would perhaps be aimed at more women then men.
However film trailers are viewed by everyone as they are displayed on television, the producers do this as people who enjoy films will more than likely enjoy television as they are both visual pieces of entertainment. Film trailers are also seen before specific films (often of the same genre) as they will be interested in possibly seeing the film.
With the boom of social networking sites with teenagers in which it is extremely popular with, many film advertisements are placed as these sites are used by millions everyday.

Representation

This is an important aspect in a film trailer as this is required to represent the film itself and the genre in which it is representing, therefore exciting and dramatic extracts are featured in the film to thrill the audience.
To represent the genre the main conventions are used; such as dark lighting/dullness, remote areas, frantic screams and mysteriousness would be used in a horror trailer.
However if the genre was romantic/comedy the lighting would be very bright and a happy atmosphere would be created by featuring light colours and perhaps in the summer season.

LIIAR of Horror trailers

Language

The language used in horror trailers is like any other it requires a persuasive voice over, however the voice over used in horror trailers often has a mysterious and creepy tone to their voice which helps the narration to become more fearful and specific to its genre. This couls possibly be viewed as being stereotypical.

Institution

The institution of horror trailers are muchly the same as other trailers those being 21st Century Fox, Universal, Paramount Pictures and other successful institutions.

Ideology

The ideology for horror trailers could perhaps be seen as a reflection of the producers of the film, for example if the producers wanted to reflect society today they can reflect this through film and in this case reflect through the use of the horror genre.

Audience

When producing my horror trailer I will firstly take into account the target audience in which I would like my horror trailer to be aimed at, as i will be featuring mainly teenagers it will perhaps be targeted towards teenagers/young adults.

Representation

To represent the horror genre I will be considering the key conventions required to create a successful horror trailer. Therefore examples being dark lighting, a creepy and mysterious voice-over, key phrases and diegetic voices, non-diegetic sound to reflect the genre of the trailer and many other key conventions required.

The history of film trailers

The first trailer was shown in a U.S movie theatre in November 1913 when Nils Granland produced a short promotional film for the musical 'The Pleasure Seekers'. Granland also introduced trailer material for an upcoming motion picture for an upcoming film which featured Charlie Chaplin in 1914.

Up until the late 1950s the film being advertised often consisted of the main key scenes with large writing describing the story. Most of the trailers had some form of narration and those that did featured loud, dramatic voices.
In the early 1960's there was a new trend, this was montage trailers and quick editing which became extremely popular. In 1964 Andrew J. Kuehn distributed his indepently produced trailer for 'Night of the Iguana' using stark, high-contrast photography fast-paced editing and a provocative narration. This form of trailer was a huge success.
Kuehn opened the west coast office of Kaleidoscope films in 1968, he became a major part in the trailer industry. As Hollywood was producing bigger blockbuster films and investing more money into them, directors such as Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Barbera Streisand began on Kuehn and his company to create the best trailers which film/theartre goers could view.
The contrast between film trailers now and in the early 1900s is huge this is because trailers were only part of the entertainment which included catoon shorts and serial adventure episodes, These earlier trailers were much shorter and often consisted of little more that title cards. However, today trailers are much more elaborate and have replaced other forms of pre-featured entertainment, also twenty minutes after the posted showtime is devoted to trailers.

The purpose of a trailer is simply to attract an audience to the film, the trailer has to achieve this in two and a half minutes. It usually features the most exciting, dramatic and funny parts of the film without producing spoilers. This is created by not neccessarily featuring the scenes in order as they are in the film. By achieving to pick dramatic scenes from the film the people who create the film trailers often begin their work while the movie is still being shot, therefore the trailer may contain footage which is not featured in the final movie. A common technique is including music on the trailer which does not appear on the movie's soundtrack, this nearly always occurs as many trailers or teasers are created long before. It also helps set the tone and mood of the trailer. Aswell as featuring music which is not neccessarily in the final product it can also feature footage of scenes which are not featured in the final movie. Most trailers have a three-act structure similar to a feature-length film. They start with a beginning, middle and usually ends with a dramatic climax. To add to the tension, voice over narration is used to briefly set up the premise of the movie and provide explanation when necessary, it is also a useful tool to enhance the audience's understanding of the plot.

The studio production logos are usually featured near the beginning of the trailer, however this has only happened since the late 1970s as they used to always be featured at the end of the trailer.
The MPAA- Motion Picture Association of Anerica film rating system mandates that theatrical trailers not exceed two minutes and thirty seconds in length, and each major studio is given one exception to this rule per year.
However in the last decade film trailers have advanced because of the on-going technological improvements, trailers featured today always have a voiceover as this provides the audience with an added narrative element and creates added suspense, vital pieces of text also help the voice-over project a short sneaky preview into the synopsis of the film. The music featured in the trailer is one of the most important devices as this immediately can set the tone of the trailer and reflect the genre to the audience. The studio production logos are often featured at the beginning of the beginning of the trailer, often there are logos for the production and distributer of the film.

Sources used www.wikipedia.com

Brief

2. A Promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• A film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
• A poster for the film.