Teaser trailer genre

After discussing our options in our group, we have decided to make a teaser trailer that is of the horror genre. This is becuase we feel we can create a realistic ultimate product that we would be happy with as there is so many options and choices when making something for the genre of horror.

Brief

We have decided in our group to produce a teaser trailer focusing on the horror genre. Along with the teaser trailer we will have to develope and create a magazine cover which would effectively be advertising the film and also a theatrical poster portraying aspects of the film shown in the teaser trailer.

Teaser Trailer Genres

As a group, we need to decide what genre our teaser trailer will be. In my research i have looked at various different genres such as thriller, comedy and drama. In the group we like the idea of producing a horror teaser trailer as we prefer the use of conventions and the way that the genre is so clearly put across. Other genres we could think of using are:

• Romantic Comedy
• Thriller
• Action/Adventure
• Horror
• Comedy
• Sci-Fi

The Hangover - Magazine cover

This is a magazine cover for GQ magazine which shows the three main characters of the film The Hangover. The readers gather this as one of the subtitles on the cover says 'The Hangover Bro's' below 'FunnyMen of the year' connoting the genre of the film which the audience will have already recognised from the teaser trailer. The actors look to be as themselves but also in character as one covers a pink cloth around the middle characters mouth and another is hugging him. Each actor has a different facial expresion portraying their individual characters within the film. The men take up most of the front cover of the magazine once again showing their importance and gaining attention for the movie. The orange and white colours scheme for the GQ cover looks smart and professional, coinciding with the outfits the three men are wearing.

The Hangover - Poster

This is one of many posters for the film 'The Hangover'.

The bright white letters contrasted against the dark black background grabs the attention of an audience, however the placing of the title at the bottom of the poster doesn't show the title as well as it could, something we would have to think about when we create our own poster for a teaser trailer. The three main characters that were in the trailer are shown in this poster, suggesting these are the characters that the plot is based around. The man holding the baby is situated at in the foreground, with both wearing classes connoting some importance to the relation of the two. The sunglasses could be a representation of either stupidity or quest for coolness as the bright ceiling lights shows there's no need to wear them. The man with the glasses is holding a cloth up to his mouth, continuing on from the trailer where he appears to have lost his tooth. The character that is the smallest on the poster at the back looks bewildered but the characters are placed more or less equally when shown in height suggesting they are all as important as each other.

Other posters show individual characters in the film with certain specific taglines to their roles that they play.

The Hangover - Teaser Trailer

This is the 2009 teaser trailer for the American comedy film that is 'The Hangover'. This film was directed and produced by Todd Phillips.

• The Warner Brothers logo 'Warner Bros Pictures' appears with a light blue sky background, which already suggests that the film won't be that of a thriller or horror, this is gathered when comparing it with the Inception Warner Brothers logo.
• Telephone sound can be heard whilst the logo is on screen, with a female voice.
• 'Legendary Pictures' logo shows with a black background.
• A meduim/close up shot of a male character (Bradley Cooper) on a mobile phone. Looks to be in a desert, in the background is 3 other men and a car.
• Cuts to a Close up of a female who looks to be in a different location - voice that was heard when production logo appeared a the start. Phone call grabs attention from audience.
• Shot reverse shot between man and woman- worried facial expressions.
• Over the shoulder shot of another middle aged man with dark hair - male characters look worse for wear suggesting something has happened.
• Non diegetic zooming sound as shot cuts to a blue and black screen with neon lights showing the words '2 days earlier' . Music picks up - rock and roll sound. The letter 'E' fades away.
• Low camera shot shows one of the male characters seen before, now lying on marble floor.
• Mise en scene shows a wrecked appartment/hotel room.
• A shot reverse shot between another man and a tiger in a bathroom. Ambient lighting shows it is morning time following night before - synergy with film title 'Hangover'.
• Close up shot of man missing a tooth - no recollection of how he lost it.
• High angle shot of a baby crying in closet.
• Low angle shot behind baby shows the 3 men crowding round outside the cupboard confused as to why the baby is there.
• Over the shoulder side shot of a man holding the baby which now has sunglasses on.
• Low angle tilted shot of a valet handing over a police car to the men.
• Outside a large hotel, man hits car door onto the baby -already shows comic elements.
• Black and blue background with same colour neon lighting as before shows title 'From the director of Old School.
• Non diegetic music is now louder.
• Point of view shot from inside boot of car of 2 of the main male characters.
• Night time shot a car crashing into another. Neon lights are seen in background - correlation between that and the movie titles.
• Film title in large, bold letters 'THE HANGOVER' in brighter neon lights than other titles with sparks flying off the edges.
• Music changes to Phil Collins 'In the air tonight' - target audience for adults as well as teenagers.
• Meduim shot of Mike Tyson singing along to music.
• Cuts to him punching one of the characters in the face.
• Low camera shot shakes as man falls to floor.
• Final shot of black and blue background with orange/red neon letters of film release date 'June 5th' and website for the movie appears which shows more information can be given to the audience about the film.
• Fades to black.

Magazine cover - Leonardo Dicaprio in Inception

This 'Total Film' magazine cover shows the lead actor of the film Inception , Leonardo Dicaprio, in role as the main character. This is gathered as he is on the front cover of the magazine individually, so the focus is on him. It is clever how the magazine covers keeps the continuity of the trailer and poster as the word FILM is meant to be aerial overviews of city buildings in the shape of words, this is done for the film's teaser poster. The costume Dicaprio has on portrays that he is a smart, intellgent man with what could be a gun that he is holding suggesting he has power also. An artificial light can be seen projected on the left side of his face creating an eery impression as to what is happening.

The title INCEPTION is shown in big and bold letters and grey metallic colour as was all the credits and titles in the teaser trailer. The red title connotes that of blood or death giving the impression that the genre of the film is that which is suited more to a male target audience than a female one.

The magazine cover colours of dark blues, greys and blacks connote the cold and emotionless feel that is gathered from watchin the teaser trailer.

Overall this cover connotes the trailer very well as things such as the typography and colour themes have been carried on throughout, making the film more recognisable to the audience it is targeted at.

Inception Poster

The first poster for Inception continues the theme of the trailer as it shows an aerial shot of city buildings. The colour connotes quite a grim view of the city, and shows the sinister aspect that the film trailer generates. As with the teaser trailer, the poster doesn't give too much away which i think is effective in building up tension and gaining a wider audience because in the initital stages of advertising it isn't selling itself to just one potential audience, which overall would gain a wider diversity of cinema viewers going to watch the film.





This poster for the film gives more away as Leonardo Dicaprio is the focus of it with a meduim/close up shot of his head and shoulders. He generally looks quite serious which again links back to the teaser trailer where although he doesn't talk at all, his facial expression connote a worried and formal look. The city buildings are again shown in the this poster as with the other ancillary products and in the teaser trailer, yet this time they make the main character look quite pixalated, as if it is almost a painting as the buildings curve round to make an almost global shape. The suit and tie he is wearing portrays his formal and serious character, and the light put on his face contrasted with the dark could suggest multiple personalities or sides to him as a character in the film. The title INCEPTION is shown in a different colour to the metallic grey they are usually produced in,this time with bold blood red to make the title stand out against the background and to catch the audience's eye.

Inception teaser trailer

Before the trailer starts, a green 'preview' screen is shown with a US approved stamp for audiences to watch the trailer. This is typical for american films.

• A black screen appears with the Warner Brothers company logo on it in a silver metallic colour. This against the black background suggests that the film will contain sinister elements. As the camera zooms in, inside the logo is what looks to be that of a city, with grey block buildings taking the shape of the W and B for Warner Brothers. The colour of the letters is slightly reflective, with an almost metal aesthetic quality to it, giving the impression of something quite emotionless and cold.


• Non diegetic music can be heard as the logo is zoomed in on, it isn't any recognisable music but a sound that is used to build tension from the very start.


• The shot goes to black - continuing the dark and sinister theme.


• What appears to be the directors name 'Christopher Nolan' is shown in the same silver/grey typography as the production/distribution company logo. As with the logo before, the title is zoomed into, until it slowly fades out. The non diegetic music continues, gradually getting louder.


• The black screen fades in to show a metallic spin top , on what appears to be a marble surface. the focus is on the spin top although the reason for this is not clear. off focus colours are in the background, with a contrast between the dark background and the white reflective surface.


• As the spin top spins round, the music coincides really effectively, with the high and low sounds imitating the rotations of the spin top. Towards the end of the shot the spin top slows down.


• The black background is shown again with 'The Director of Dark Knight' in once again the metallic silver typography. The name Christopher Nolan is meant to be applied to this. The typography of the titles is zoomed into, as the music gradually begins to get louder.


• Quite a loud boom sound is heard when an aerial long shot of a city and its buildings appears. After each shot fades the music correlates against the film shot with a higher pitch in the sound thats been used.


• The aerial shot over the city shows cars and forms of transport to be moving along a large road showing aspects of the city as it moves across.


• It then cuts to a medium shot of Leonardo Dicaprio who looks to be inside some sort of helicopter or aeroplane, connoting that the view just seen is from his point of view. The fact the camera focuses on him shows that he will play a main part in the film and the worried expression portrays a turn of events and coincides with the dark theme already shown of the film.


• The shot then sharply cuts to the outside of the helicopter again from Dicaprio's point of view, where a man can be seen being dragged along by two other men, with the landscape of the city buildings in the background, telling the audience they have landed on a building helicopter pad. The shot then fades to black, almost as if Dicaprio is blinking or sleeping, suggesting a dream like end to what has just been witnessed.


• A black screen with 'leonardo Dicaprio' is shown in bold block letters but in the same font as the other credits and same colour.


• It fades to a close up shot of a glass of water on a wooden table, however the water is tilted in the glass which automatically gives the audience the impression that there is something unrealistic/unique going on, making it different to other films. What looks to be artifical light is seen and tension keeps building due to the music becoming louder and more course. The water begins to shake and ripples appear.


• The next shot quickly cuts to a dark street of buildings, which the audience can tell is CGI (computer genereate image) due to the unreal quality it has to it as it contains the same metallic colour that has been seen throughout the trailer, and the cleanliness and emotionlessness of the street supports the theme of the film.


• The words 'Your mind' appear in the centre of the screen infront of the cgi street that we can see.


• The camera starts to tilt as it travels down the street suggesting a lack of direction and creating confusion in some aspects, as do the words.


• The shot fades to black.


• A meduim/close up shot of Leonardo Dicaprio is shown, supporting the fact that he is important to the plot, the nighttime series of shots connote there is no safety and suggests that no one is safe.


• 'Is the scene of the crime' appears and travels down and around the side of a cgi building as it follows on from the previous words, creating a postmodernist edge to the film as what appears to be real actually may not be.


• A low angle shot of two men in what could be seen as a hotel corridor is shown, as there is an elevator in the background and rows of doors on either side. One man adopts a crouching position as another man (perhaps staff off the hotel as what he is wearing looks like a consierge uniform) lunges towards him.


• The camera switches to an over the shoulder shot of the crouching man, where his fate of escaping is left hanging as the camera then cuts to another shot. All the while the music gets louder.


• A meduim close up shot of a man in a suit emerging from under water in a bath tub is shown, the water droplets create an effective look.


• The shot then cuts back to the two men in corridor who have lunged towards each other in what could be considered a 'Matrix' style fighting position as they are in mid air which in reality would be unrealistic and in-attemptable.


• An extreme close up of part of a clock appears as the clock reaches the 12/60 hand.


• The evens in the corridor continue in the matrix style shots although they are sped up and shown by various titled low angle shots.


• A meduim shot of again Leonardo Dicaprio shows him suddenly waking up, suggesting that what we as an audience are seeing is just in his head.


• The camera then travels up a large reflective shiny building and a zoomed out aerial shot shows a maze like area where the film title of 'Inception' appears in black letters. The music has quitened down and the shot draws to a close with a black background with 'Summer 2010' appearing in silver metallic letters.

Teaser Trailers

A teaser trailer is a short trailer used to advertise an upcoming film, television programme, video game or product. In our case, the trailer will be for a film that we decide to produce in whatever genre we feel is appropriate.
The trailer will genereally show around 30-60 seconds of the film, however, sometimes they contain little or actualy no footage of the film they are advertising, for instance a number of shots can be created just for the purpose of the trailer and aren't actually featured in the film.
They are usually released well in advance before the film comes out either at the cinema or theatre, this is so it can generate a 'buzz' for the target audience.
Teasers are also commonly used in advertising. The so-called teaser ad or teaser campaign typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements which anticipate a large, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event.
Tester trailers are usually only made for big-budget and popularly themed movies. Their purpose is less to tell the audience about a movie's content than simply to let them know that the movie is coming up in the near future, and to add to the hype of the upcoming release. Teaser trailers are often made while the film is still in production or being edited and as a result they may feature scenes or alternate versions of scenes that are not in the finished film. Other ones (notably Pixar films) have scenes made for use in the trailer only. Teaser trailers today are increasingly focused on internet downloading and the convention circuit.

Cemetery Junction Poster

The poster for the film Cemetery Junction shows the five main characters of the film with a plain beige background, something which is effective in keeping the focus on them. The outfits the characters are dressed in here are ones that are shown in the trailer, following a certain continuity which the audience can then associate with the film. Although at first glance the characters seem to be placed equally in rows behind the frontman, at a closer glance they are placed further away, with Ricky Gervais at the back connoting his part in the film won't be a main part, whereas the character that we see in the trailer (left to the young lad at the front) is placed just behind him suggesting he is important to the plot aswell, although having watched the trailer i would have thought he would be placed at the front instead of the tall character in the leather jacket.
The poster mainly consists of men portraying the male dominated era in which the film was set, however the female which appears in this is holding a superior pose and wearing a red dress which shows her femininity but considering she is the only girl featured it gives the impression that she is important to the plot.
The title of the film 'Cemetery Junction' is in bold capital letters in the same colour font as was used in the trailer, giving a sense of continuity.
The tagline - 'Be young, Be free, Be somebody' again continues on from the trailer where it specifically focuses on individuals and aspects of their life, what type of person they are -whether they are out for fun or a good job. As with the trailer, the 'written and directed by' credits appear just before the title, giving the same authenticity of other films.

Cemetery Junction

This is the international film trailer for the British drama film Cemetery Junction; directed and produced by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (best known from British sitcom The Office). The film was released 14th April 2010.

• The trailer begins with the image of Columbia pictures, the distribution company for the film. ( as we are planning on producing a trailer we would also have to think about logos for production and distribution company to make it look all the more realistic.)


• A shot of a black background appears and fades out to a girl and a boy who look to be young adults, having a conversation at a bar. The meduim shot focuses on just them even though a bartender can be seen behind them. The male is wearing a black suit and bow tie, with a long hairstyle, where the girl is clothed in a floral pink dress and has a her hair flicked outwards - connoting from the beginning that the film is set in a previous era. Soft non diegetic music is playing in the background.
• Shot to black again.
• Fade in, the camera zooms in on the same two characters speaking, obviously showing a purpose slight jump in time to the conversation.
• Fade to black. White typography appears with the writing 'In Cemetery Junction' on it. All the letters are in capitals suggesting that the film is a bold statement about life in the era that it is set.
• A quick long/medium shot shows what looks to be the Cemetery Junction train station. The scene shows what today would be considered as vintage cars as they uphold the 60's/70's era which the film is trying to portray.
• Medium close-up of two teenagers/young adults - one is tall with dark hair and a red jacket whilst the other is shorter with a trilby hat and glasses.
• The young male (wearing a denim jacket)who was featured at the start of the trailer is shown again connoting that he is an important or even main character to the plot.
• Panning low angle shot of the three boys together. The tallest one is infront with the cigarette and black leather jacket adding a sense of rebellion. A train is moving past them which supports the previous image of the train station.
• A shot then switches to a conversation the three lads are having, suggesting they are friends. The familiar non diegetic continues but is more noticable than before.
• Long/medium shot of a vandalised billboard shows the immaturity but also the nature of the boys and what they do in Cemetery Junction.
• Another black shot appears with 'Some people want success' - following on from the previous words 'In cemetery junction'. A narrative is starting to develope between the words and the shots shown of the characters in the film.
• A long panning low angle shot appears to show the main male character walking outside an executive looking bulidng-contrasting from the countryside area in which he and his friends were in where they graffitied the billboard.
• An over the shoulder shot shows the male in an office, being interviewed, he begins to talk about how he doesn't want to end up like his dad;
• A shot of his dad (Ricky Gervais) puts focus on him from the other men he is working in a factory with so the audience can identify who is being talked about.
• A shot reverse shot shows the 'dad' to be arguing with his mother, the young mans grandma. The conversation shows the cynical comedy that the film entails which gives a good sense of the genre.
• Black screen shows 'some people want a good time' in the same font as the previous sentences.
• Long/meduim shot of tall 'rebellious' character talking to a girl - this portrays what the words have just stated.
• Further shots of the same young lad show him getting into trouble such as fights and punch ups, and an effective technique that is used is that of slow motion which slows down the punch that the lad throws.
• Cuts to a prison where it shows three prison cell door - one for each of the main characters. Being in the local prison doesn't seem to be something of a big deal as the friendly officer isn't surprised to see them there and see's them as lads being lads, connting the era once again.
• A series of jump shots shows the officer opening the cell doors which speeds up the process of enabling the audience to see the characters. There is ambient light however the darkness could suggest the somewhat sinister turn of events in the film.
• Another black screen with the words 'and everyone' - the words follow the on screen narrative of the film without giving too much away, which i think is a great way of illustrating the plot.
• A series of clips show the characters and the setting of cemetery junction, where life seems to be quite laid back and rural almost.
• Black screen - 'wants a way out'.
• A futher series of clips show the characters in the comic scenes - the lads contrasted with old people at what looks to be a party.
• Black screen - 'From Columbia Pictures' - reiterates the distribution company.
• Non diegetic sound can be heard along with talking - louder than before.
• An almost voice over can be heard, with characters talking to each other whilst the plot continues.
• Towards the end of the trailer the directors and writers names of the film are shown - Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. (titles are essential in trailer and we will need to incude them in ours.)
• Further seemingly montage of slow motion shots of the main characters portray them as close friends having a good time - coincides with the slight slow pace of the music.
• Finally the title of the film 'Cemetery Junction' appears.
• Meduim/close up shot of characters in comic scene which appeals once more to the audience as an enticing effect so that they will watch the film.
• 'Coming soon' in same black background as before, with credits in final shot.