The audience is shown the title of the film at the end of the trailer, but uses its name at the beginning from one of the characters: "the others said they wouldn't leave us... but they did." Showing the title at the end fits in with the trailer's strong themes of mystery and suspense, and keeps the audience on edge for what the film is called. Suprisingly, the trailer doesn't say who is starring in the film, although the audience may recognise the central character, Nicole Kidman, who had past success in Bazz Luhrmann's 'Moulin Rouge!' and Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' before 'The Others'.
The audience is shown a great deal of action mainly towards the end of the trailer, using a combination of fast-motion shots and cut shots to create a rushed, frantic tone of the characters appearing to be haunted by ghosts. Some of these clips include Nicole Kidman running up the stairs, screaming through the banisters, the little girl showing her mother pictures she drew of the ghosts, the maid telling the children that she see's the ghosts too. The music used in the beginning of the trailer is quite simple and eeire, with no powerful instruments used. This carries on throughout the whole sequence, interupted by several bounds of a drum any time the trailer shows a shot that makes the audience jump. Because it is simple, the music doesn't really create a large impact on the trailer, but instead relates with the ghostly theme as the feel of the music is quite haunting and subtle.
The trailer does not come with a voice-over, and instead tells the story through the different shots of the characters and what they say and do. Towards the end of the trailer, several of the shots are played in fast movement, such as the shot of a nursery, which symbolises the fear of the characters and how their lives have become distorted since the ghosts have haunted their lives. Until the end, however, the general speed of the trailer is quite paced, with the effect of fading between each shot to signify the movement and precense of the ghosts.
The information we are given about the film starts with Kidman introducing three housekeepers to her house- and at the same time, introducing the audience to their homelife and background. The audience learns how the previous housekeepers "vanished... into thin air" and Kidman informs them not to listen to what her children might tell them, "my children sometimes have strange ideas, but you musn't pay any attention. Children will be children." The story begins to unfold with the children seeing and sensing mysterious things, such as a touch on the shoulder, or the curtains suddenly opening. When they confide in their nanny, she tells them that she sees the ghosts too and so will their mother soon. As Kidman rejects her children's stories, she starts to experience similar episodes: the chandalear rattling, walking into a room and frantically pulling off sheets of furniture as she might have 'seen' something, walking through a misty field with her voice-over: "there were voices, a boy and two women, and they were talking together."
The trailer moves on to the family becoming more involved with the ghosts, and trying to find a way of escaping them. One of the ghosts, an elderly woman, is even briefly revealed, and the trailer ends with the title 'The Others' crackling onto the screen with the voice-over the old maid: "sooner or later, they will find you", before ending with Kidman moving towards what appears to be her daughter playing with a toy covered in a large sheet. The audience can make out it is actually an elderly women underneath the sheet, and when Kidman demands to know where her daughter is, the woman replies in her daughters voice: "are you mad? I am your daughter!"
The trailer could be aimed at a wide rannge of audiences as it does not feature any gory or indecent scenes. There is a great use of suspense and making the audience jump, but the fear does come from the viewer's own imagination and interpretation of what the ghosts are going to do to the family. Also, the trailer doesn't reveal what's about to happen, and nor does it show them being physically harmed by them, so the trailer may appeal to viewers who enjoy a physcological horror where the storyline is more realistic and believeable for them.
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Nightmare on Elm Street Trailer Analysis
The audience is told the title of the film halfway through the trailer, and again at the end. The use of this gives the viewers a clearer idea of what the trailer is about- obviously the term 'nightmare' suggests themes of horror and supernaturalism, whilst 'Elm Street' tells the audience that the film is set in a regular location with 'normal' characters who are unaware of what they about to endure. The audience are not told who is starring in the film, but at the end they are told of the producer (Robert Shaye) and the director (Wes Craven). The voice-over tells the audience that Craven was the same director of 'The Hills Have Eyes' and 'The Last House On The Left', two gruesome horror films of the 1970's who recieved mixed reactions from audiences. As these two films featured extreme scenes of blood and gore, the audience can expect that 'Nightmare on Elm Street' will probably be no different, as the director appears to prefer this type of horror.
The action we are shown in the trailer is mainly of how the villian's victims are affected, and how he harms them as they desperately try to escape. Unlike modern horror trailers, this trailer from 1984 goes straight into its plot without creating tension or any build-up. The effect of this could be to reel the audience straight away into the trailer, and keep them hooked throughout. What the audience is shown is a series of quick shots of a girl being thrown across a room covered in blood, a man being accused of murdering this girl, and the different characters trying to work out the reason for all these mysterious killings. We are also shown the trauma of the other characters as it becomes clear that the villian, Freddy Krueger, haunts and tries to brutally murder them in their sleep.
The music used for the trailer straight away sets its theme of horror or mystery. In the beginning, the eeire combination of a piano and a choir play before an electronic piece of music, a typical sound to resemble the 80's, begins to play when one of the characters mentions: "you just see... cuts happen". From this point, the music speeds up to create tension as the plot begins to unfold. It may seem that the electronic music used for the trailer is a slightly odd if it is supposed to signify horror and gore, but the cold, tense effect of the music resemble Freddy Krueger's iconic 'tool' that he uses to murder his victims: several knifes attached to a glove.
The trailer does come with a voice-over, who speaks in a menacing, villainous tone to create extra effect to the piece. Such voice-overs would probably be mocked in modern day, as now audiences are used to more realistic types of horror that they can relate to. But this old-style approach of using a 'melodramatic' voice-over builds up the tension for the audience. It also confirms for them the trailer's main theme, as trailers from the 80's did not use as much affects and cut-shots and different voice-overs as we do in modern day. The affects we can use in a trailer today help the audience realise what the film is about, whereas straight away in the beginning of this trailer, for instance, the voice-over had to immediatly begin with "the kids of Elm Street don't know it yet, but something is coming... to get them."
The speed of the trailer does not change, as no quick shots or fast-motion effects are used. Throughout the whole trailer, the shots all play near enough at the same pace; but through the speeding up of the music, it may seem that the trailer does become faster halfway through. At the end when the voice-over says the title, the music reaches its climax and stops, so that the audience can hear the title clearly and it will stay in their mind for when they next go to the cinema or want to purchase a DVD/Video.
The information we are given on the film is how several friends are haunted by the evil Freddy Kruegar who comes to them when they are asleep and they are powerless to defend themselves. They don't see him during day, only when they are asleep and he is in their mind. He still has the power to kill them and they can still feel pain, and the episodes they endure with him truely are nightmares as noone else can see them- making it harder for other characters to believe it and to start choosing innocent people as the culprits of the murders.
Despite being a trailer which anyone can see, the trailer does feature some scenes where the characters are about to be attacked, even at one point showing a girl soaked in blood as she is thrown about her bedroom. Because of this disturbing content, the trailer is not suitable for young children, but may appeal to some viewers who enjoy a horror film with a traditional storyline; the villian going after a group of vulnerable teenagers. Thus, the trailer is also aimed at teenagers as they can relate with the characters and their lives- making it more realistic for them and therefore creating a bigger impact for when they would watch the full film.
The action we are shown in the trailer is mainly of how the villian's victims are affected, and how he harms them as they desperately try to escape. Unlike modern horror trailers, this trailer from 1984 goes straight into its plot without creating tension or any build-up. The effect of this could be to reel the audience straight away into the trailer, and keep them hooked throughout. What the audience is shown is a series of quick shots of a girl being thrown across a room covered in blood, a man being accused of murdering this girl, and the different characters trying to work out the reason for all these mysterious killings. We are also shown the trauma of the other characters as it becomes clear that the villian, Freddy Krueger, haunts and tries to brutally murder them in their sleep.
The music used for the trailer straight away sets its theme of horror or mystery. In the beginning, the eeire combination of a piano and a choir play before an electronic piece of music, a typical sound to resemble the 80's, begins to play when one of the characters mentions: "you just see... cuts happen". From this point, the music speeds up to create tension as the plot begins to unfold. It may seem that the electronic music used for the trailer is a slightly odd if it is supposed to signify horror and gore, but the cold, tense effect of the music resemble Freddy Krueger's iconic 'tool' that he uses to murder his victims: several knifes attached to a glove.
The trailer does come with a voice-over, who speaks in a menacing, villainous tone to create extra effect to the piece. Such voice-overs would probably be mocked in modern day, as now audiences are used to more realistic types of horror that they can relate to. But this old-style approach of using a 'melodramatic' voice-over builds up the tension for the audience. It also confirms for them the trailer's main theme, as trailers from the 80's did not use as much affects and cut-shots and different voice-overs as we do in modern day. The affects we can use in a trailer today help the audience realise what the film is about, whereas straight away in the beginning of this trailer, for instance, the voice-over had to immediatly begin with "the kids of Elm Street don't know it yet, but something is coming... to get them."
The speed of the trailer does not change, as no quick shots or fast-motion effects are used. Throughout the whole trailer, the shots all play near enough at the same pace; but through the speeding up of the music, it may seem that the trailer does become faster halfway through. At the end when the voice-over says the title, the music reaches its climax and stops, so that the audience can hear the title clearly and it will stay in their mind for when they next go to the cinema or want to purchase a DVD/Video.
The information we are given on the film is how several friends are haunted by the evil Freddy Kruegar who comes to them when they are asleep and they are powerless to defend themselves. They don't see him during day, only when they are asleep and he is in their mind. He still has the power to kill them and they can still feel pain, and the episodes they endure with him truely are nightmares as noone else can see them- making it harder for other characters to believe it and to start choosing innocent people as the culprits of the murders.
Despite being a trailer which anyone can see, the trailer does feature some scenes where the characters are about to be attacked, even at one point showing a girl soaked in blood as she is thrown about her bedroom. Because of this disturbing content, the trailer is not suitable for young children, but may appeal to some viewers who enjoy a horror film with a traditional storyline; the villian going after a group of vulnerable teenagers. Thus, the trailer is also aimed at teenagers as they can relate with the characters and their lives- making it more realistic for them and therefore creating a bigger impact for when they would watch the full film.
Tuesday 2 March 2010
How do post-modern media texts challenge traditional text-reader relations and the concept of representation?
Traditional concepts of representation in the media often show the audience the specific media product, directly connecting with the viewers and what they want to sell. The idea is to advertise the product's qualities and how they can benefit the viewer, with no irony or mixed messages so as not to confuse the audience in what they are presenting. For example, the advert for Loreal 'Roll-on True Match Foundation' shows A-listers Evangeline Lilly and Eva Longoria advertising a foundation made for 'matching your skin tone' with 'no streaks'. The women are attractive, with perfect skin to signify that the foundation will give similar results to the audience. They also appear happy with the product as they smile seductively at the camera, uttering Loreal's famous quote: "because you're worth it".
The foundation may stand out amongst the different techniques of how to apply make-up, but the advert itself is just one of many airbrushed models pouting at the camera and commenting how 'amazing' or 'perfect' the product is for them. The idea is to trick the viewers into thinking that they will be as beautiful as the models in the adverts if they purchased the product; whether it may be flawless skin, longer eyelashes, fuller lips, or luscious hair. Of course, what many viewers fail to realise, or simply overlook, is the fact that the women in the adverts are often photoshopped in order to appear more attractive- rather than the product improving their appearance, it is the computer.
An advert challenging this traditional idea of make-up adverts portraing a "fake" beauty is the 'Dove Evolution' advert. Aired in 2006, the advert begins with an ordinary and natural woman staring at the camera. During the process of the advert, she is constantly pampered to improve her appearance, and then later photoshopped to make her neck longer, her cheekbones more defined, her eyes larger, and her hair more tidy. The camera then draws back to reveal the woman's face on a large board advertising a new foundation, with the irony being that the foundation was not the only thing applied on the woman to make her look appealing to passers-by. This method of an advert within an advert is post-modern by its use of challenging the audience into their idea of beauty, and opening their eyes to the decietful tricks of advertising.
The advert, concluding with the phrase: "no wonder our perception of beauty is distorted... take part in the Dove Real Beauty Workshop for Girls", doesn't try to sell its message through attractive celebrities, but instead seems to criticise them as it favours a more natural and geniune beauty instead. With its post-modern edge standing out amongst the crowd of advertising, adverts such as these are often open to parodies and pastiches.
The most popular parody of the 'Dove Evolution' advert is the 'Slob Evolution' where a young and attractive male goes through a similar process of being changed, expect rather than being beautified he deteriotes into a slob through his continous intake of beer, cigerattes, and fast-food takeaways. The advert is humorous, and in a way pokes fun at Dove's message of 'natural beauty' as it suggests that there are people in society who are very attractive without being photoshopped; not to mention the idea of this being a 'natural man' so therefore he must be beautiful, according to Dove's message.
Another popular post-modern text that challenges traditional messages is the infamous Cadbury's Drumming Gorilla. Aired in 2007, the advert features a Gorilla building himself up to play the drums whilst the opening of Phil Collin's "Something In The Air Tonight" begins to play softly in the background. As the camera slowly zooms in, the audience can sense the tension of the gorilla as it seems to be waiting for its 'moment', before breaking into playing the drums. Surrounded by its traditional colour of light purple, and with the opening words "a glass and a half full production", the audience can guess that the advert belongs to Cadbury's, and prepare itself to be shown the company's latest chocolate. Yet the advert completely throws back its audience by presenting something that has nothing to do with chocolate, more so of this excessive feeling of 'sensation' you can get when waiting to eat it- "I can feel it coming in the air tonight".
Through its peculiar message, the advert caused an uproar in mixed reactions and parodies and re-makes. Audiences became intrigued why a gorilla, out of all things, would play the drums- making them stop to watch the advert rather than switching the channel. Afterall, isn't this advertising's main goal- attracting the attention of the viewer? On YouTube, the advert currently stands at 4,331,689 views, with its next post-modern advert, "Cadbury's Eyebrows", achieving 5,475,132 views. The advert's bizarre content attracts audience's through its quirky and different technique of advertising; viewers are able to remember it and thus remember the product- with the sale figures for Dairy Milk boosting by 9% since the advert to prove their success.
Cadbury's use of post-modernism is more popular than its past traditional methods of advertising chocolate, with Cadbury's Dairy Milk from 1982 achieving an adequate 14,495 views and Cadbury's Flake from 1985 standing at 111,676 views. The ratings show how audiences are bored with traditional adverts and their 'normal' method of advertising; the suggestive way the girl in the Cadbury's Flake advert bites the long stick of chocolate has been seen before. If anything, its predictable and audiences won't be interested in watching.
Through its post-modern style, the advert manages to invite the audience into taking part and being involved in the chocolate. Dozens of popular parodies made by viewers have been posted on YouTube, ranging from a "Christmas version" to an "Eastenders spoof", with the song used, "Something In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins soaring back into the music charts at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart and number 9 in the UK Download Chart. This proves how the advert has appealed to all different groups and ages. The parodies suggest a tone of familiarity; if a viewer is able to explore in the advert and enjoy making their own version, then there is, in a sense, a type of connection between the advert and its viewer; making them more inclined to purchase in its products.
Yet despite the phenomenal success, the Cadbury's gorilla also recieved some criticism. Reviewing on the 'TWA' (TV's Worst Adverts) website, one viewer commented: "What is the meaning of this? Eating mass-produced middle-market chocolate is like being a giant ape? It just makes NO sense at all!". A viewer such as this is perhaps used to the more traditional and 'straight-forward' technique of advertising where the audience is simply shown the product and its attributes without having to connotate or read between the lines. Nevertheless, the overall reaction of audiences was mainly positive, proving that post-modernism maybe is the key ingrediant to attract audiences in representation and media texts: "The advert is not meant to be relevant to the product, it's to simply "to make you smile", and it certainly made me smile. I haven't saw an advert for so long, that captured me the moment my eyes fell upon it, and didn't let me go until the end. It's brilliant!"
The foundation may stand out amongst the different techniques of how to apply make-up, but the advert itself is just one of many airbrushed models pouting at the camera and commenting how 'amazing' or 'perfect' the product is for them. The idea is to trick the viewers into thinking that they will be as beautiful as the models in the adverts if they purchased the product; whether it may be flawless skin, longer eyelashes, fuller lips, or luscious hair. Of course, what many viewers fail to realise, or simply overlook, is the fact that the women in the adverts are often photoshopped in order to appear more attractive- rather than the product improving their appearance, it is the computer.
An advert challenging this traditional idea of make-up adverts portraing a "fake" beauty is the 'Dove Evolution' advert. Aired in 2006, the advert begins with an ordinary and natural woman staring at the camera. During the process of the advert, she is constantly pampered to improve her appearance, and then later photoshopped to make her neck longer, her cheekbones more defined, her eyes larger, and her hair more tidy. The camera then draws back to reveal the woman's face on a large board advertising a new foundation, with the irony being that the foundation was not the only thing applied on the woman to make her look appealing to passers-by. This method of an advert within an advert is post-modern by its use of challenging the audience into their idea of beauty, and opening their eyes to the decietful tricks of advertising.
The advert, concluding with the phrase: "no wonder our perception of beauty is distorted... take part in the Dove Real Beauty Workshop for Girls", doesn't try to sell its message through attractive celebrities, but instead seems to criticise them as it favours a more natural and geniune beauty instead. With its post-modern edge standing out amongst the crowd of advertising, adverts such as these are often open to parodies and pastiches.
The most popular parody of the 'Dove Evolution' advert is the 'Slob Evolution' where a young and attractive male goes through a similar process of being changed, expect rather than being beautified he deteriotes into a slob through his continous intake of beer, cigerattes, and fast-food takeaways. The advert is humorous, and in a way pokes fun at Dove's message of 'natural beauty' as it suggests that there are people in society who are very attractive without being photoshopped; not to mention the idea of this being a 'natural man' so therefore he must be beautiful, according to Dove's message.
Another popular post-modern text that challenges traditional messages is the infamous Cadbury's Drumming Gorilla. Aired in 2007, the advert features a Gorilla building himself up to play the drums whilst the opening of Phil Collin's "Something In The Air Tonight" begins to play softly in the background. As the camera slowly zooms in, the audience can sense the tension of the gorilla as it seems to be waiting for its 'moment', before breaking into playing the drums. Surrounded by its traditional colour of light purple, and with the opening words "a glass and a half full production", the audience can guess that the advert belongs to Cadbury's, and prepare itself to be shown the company's latest chocolate. Yet the advert completely throws back its audience by presenting something that has nothing to do with chocolate, more so of this excessive feeling of 'sensation' you can get when waiting to eat it- "I can feel it coming in the air tonight".
Through its peculiar message, the advert caused an uproar in mixed reactions and parodies and re-makes. Audiences became intrigued why a gorilla, out of all things, would play the drums- making them stop to watch the advert rather than switching the channel. Afterall, isn't this advertising's main goal- attracting the attention of the viewer? On YouTube, the advert currently stands at 4,331,689 views, with its next post-modern advert, "Cadbury's Eyebrows", achieving 5,475,132 views. The advert's bizarre content attracts audience's through its quirky and different technique of advertising; viewers are able to remember it and thus remember the product- with the sale figures for Dairy Milk boosting by 9% since the advert to prove their success.
Cadbury's use of post-modernism is more popular than its past traditional methods of advertising chocolate, with Cadbury's Dairy Milk from 1982 achieving an adequate 14,495 views and Cadbury's Flake from 1985 standing at 111,676 views. The ratings show how audiences are bored with traditional adverts and their 'normal' method of advertising; the suggestive way the girl in the Cadbury's Flake advert bites the long stick of chocolate has been seen before. If anything, its predictable and audiences won't be interested in watching.
Through its post-modern style, the advert manages to invite the audience into taking part and being involved in the chocolate. Dozens of popular parodies made by viewers have been posted on YouTube, ranging from a "Christmas version" to an "Eastenders spoof", with the song used, "Something In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins soaring back into the music charts at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart and number 9 in the UK Download Chart. This proves how the advert has appealed to all different groups and ages. The parodies suggest a tone of familiarity; if a viewer is able to explore in the advert and enjoy making their own version, then there is, in a sense, a type of connection between the advert and its viewer; making them more inclined to purchase in its products.
Yet despite the phenomenal success, the Cadbury's gorilla also recieved some criticism. Reviewing on the 'TWA' (TV's Worst Adverts) website, one viewer commented: "What is the meaning of this? Eating mass-produced middle-market chocolate is like being a giant ape? It just makes NO sense at all!". A viewer such as this is perhaps used to the more traditional and 'straight-forward' technique of advertising where the audience is simply shown the product and its attributes without having to connotate or read between the lines. Nevertheless, the overall reaction of audiences was mainly positive, proving that post-modernism maybe is the key ingrediant to attract audiences in representation and media texts: "The advert is not meant to be relevant to the product, it's to simply "to make you smile", and it certainly made me smile. I haven't saw an advert for so long, that captured me the moment my eyes fell upon it, and didn't let me go until the end. It's brilliant!"
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