Comparison of Teaser and Theatrical Trailers

Below is a video commentating on the similarities and differences between teaser trailers with theatrical trailers that I learnt about:

The Dark Knight: Teaser Trailer

• Reveals the symbol for the film that the audience will mostly associate with the other films. 
• Simple colours
• A short animation
• 56 seconds

The Dark Knight: Theatrical Trailer

• Production titles at the start
• Desaturation of colour to demonstrate digression and establish the problem
• Cut at dramatic drum beats in music
• Lots of action shots
• Introduces a problem at the start
• Some moments of comedy
• Narrative tells possible solution
• Dialogue
• Slow motion editing on action shots
• Extreme close up to establish main characters or key information (the Joker's card)
• Joker's voice over visuals/asynchronous sound at the start 
• Establishing music to set atmosphere
• Black screen to start
• Fade transitions
• Black screens between cuts
• Shot of Batman on building that breaks the 180 degree rule to establish the setting of Gotham City
• Build up of music midway through, creating tension and change in narrative
• Black screen and Joker's voice over, creating a haunting atmosphere
• Reveal of film title
• Reveal of cinema release date
• 2 minutes 6 seconds

Beauty and the Beast: Teaser Trailer

• Lot of establishing shots/ shows setting
• Time lapses to demonstrate the digression within the film, suggesting that something in the film will happen to make it better, i.e. the character's presence. Slow desaturation of colour
• Extreme close up of a symbol (the rose) the audience often associate with the film. Pull focus of the girl in the back ground. Establishes main character, famous actress, Emma Watson to entice. 
• Plays with the phase "Be Our Guest" as it imperatively invites the audience to come watch the film but also uses a lyric from one of the famous songs from the previous film.
• Use the music from the previous Disney film
• Black screens with just voice overs, heightens the importance their voice (actor wise that the audience can guess who is saying it) and what they are saying to give some narration.
• Little narration 
• Only one character introduced.
• Quick cuts from one shot to the next.
• 
  
   1 minute 30 seconds

Beauty and the Beast: Theatrical Trailer

• Establishes a lot of character straight away and describes the main character 
• Establishes the setting
• Quick cuts
• Previews comical moments within the film
• More changes in the music
• Moments of silence and voice over
• Narration but does not reveal ending
• Establishes the problem and the potential solution but not whether it works or not
• Lots of uses of pans to show more 
• Breaking 360 degree rule to show area 
• Shot reverse shot to show main character's reactions
• Quick cuts between text "Experience the tale"
• Playing the famous song from the previous film 
• Action shots in time with the beats of the music
• Fade transitions between shots
• Text provides key information (but more detailed than the teaser)
• 2 minutes 30 seconds

"La La Land": Teaser Trailer

• Tracking shots to establish character and setting
• Quick cuts
• Plays the song featuring in the film
• Production Title and nabs of information
• Establishes main character and setting
• Titles of main actors featured
• Reveals title of film at the end
• 1 minute 26 seconds

"La La Land": Theatrical Trailer

• Narrative
• Voice over
• Starting with a comical preview
• Slow music
• Tracking shot of main character
• Shot-reverse-shot between main characters to establish relationship
• Fast cuts to preview extravagant visuals
• Change of song and pace
• Voice over to develop a problem
• Reviews flash up
• Moment of comedy
• Introduces song and dance
• Reveals title of film at the end

Pirates of the Caribbean: Teaser Trailer

• Introduces an ambiguous problem
• Creates a spooky atmosphere
• Slow fades and black screens between transitions
• Dialogue introduces a solution to the problem
• Introduces some comedy
• Some credits at the end, stating when it is released

Pirates of the Caribbean: Theatrical Trailer

• Voice over intoduces a clear problem
• Louder more intense music
• Production companies included a quarter way through
• Moments of comedy
• Introduces main characters
• Dialogue to tell more of the narrative and to introduce a solution
• Snapshots of action
• Text three-quarters of the way through to inform when it is released
• Intense moment where the adventure goes wrong
• Iconic music
• Credits at the end

  

The Woman In Black: Teaser Trailer

• Introduces production companies
• Lot of establishing shots/ shows setting
• Creates an atmosphere
• Diegetic sound creates jump scares
• Voice over of little girl introduces problem, creates atmosphere and narrative 
• Slightly ambiguous narrative
• Some key credits

The Woman In Black: Theatrical Trailer

Introduces production companies straight away

Creepy music

Voice over introduces main characters, setting and plot line

Establishing shots (train making its way to the village)

Introduces a problem

Fast pace action shots

Slow fades to black at the start

Fast pace cuts between action shots

Text informing audience about release date, main actor

Montage towards the end

Reveal title of film at the end

A final jump scare

Suicide Squad: Teaser Trailer

• Use of the famous song 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
• Vertical pan down to establish the set of the prison
• Quick cut
• Fade transitions
• Black screen
• Introducing the main characters with extreme close up or medium shots
• Production titles 25 seconds in, in the style of the film
• Stops in the music to preview comical moments
• Voice overs to introduce character traits
• Fast cuts to preview extravagant visuals
• 2 minutes (long for a teaser trailer)

Suicide Squad: Theatrical Trailer

• Atmospheric music and voice over
• Ariel shot (helicopter pan) to establish the setting of the White House, which the audience will associate with government and high positions of power

• Voice over introduces characters and a problem
• Comical twist on introduction to production companies
• Montages
• Fast paced cut in action shots
• Moments of comedy 
• Dialogue introduces solution
• Establishes protagonists and antagonists
• More fast paced action at change in music
• Text that matches the format of the rest of the film informs on release date of the film
• Reveals the film title
• Establishes clear themes, atmosphere and genre through conventions of an action film
• Pauses in music for intense and comical moments

 Colonia: Teaser Trailer

• Slow fades between shots that introduce main characters
• Voice over introduces a problem
• Dramatic music and snapshots of action conveys genre and atmosphere for the film
• A long final montages 
• Reveals title of the film and some credits

Colonia (2015 historical romantic thriller film): Theatrical Trailer

• Introduces production and distribution companies at the start
• Establishes main characters and original setting and their place their through voice over, long shots and close ups of main characters' faces
• Text explaining something about the narrative
• Phone rings and suddenly a major problem is introduced after their idyllic atmosphere that is created
• Fast paced cut showing snapshots of action
• Voice over suggests a possible solution
• Text stating the major actors
• Close up shots of main characters' faces
• Final montage of action
• Main character's face, centre screen, turns round to look almost directly into the camera
• Text informing release date

Slumdog Millionaire: Teaser Trailer

• Indian music combined with 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' theme tune
• Slow fades between establishing shots of Indian housing slums and the studio set of the game show
• Voice over of children's laughter to introduce some narrative about the story of a boy's life
• Text informing release date and star ratings and reviews
• Fast paced montage of action shots

Slumdog Millionaire: Theatrical Trailer

• Introduces production and distribution companies
• Text informing star ratings and reviews
• Indian music establishes a setting
• Quick change to 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' theme tune and close up shots of the main character's face entering the TV studio set
• Unconventional text that poses a question to the audience of this trailer (as the game show would in the game that is in the narrative of the film) that establishes a problem
• Slow fades between shots that introduce characters
• Sudden change of music and pace, presenting fast pace action shots
• Text introducing more about the narrative
• Slow fades that build up into a montage
• Text revealing film title and release date

The Secret Life of Pets: Teaser Trailer

• Introduces 'Max', a main character within the film, and the famous actors voice so older parent audiences can guess the voice.
• Converges with another film to demonstrate how it is similar to it (in entertainment level and child suitability) and as it is by the same producers, Illumination Entertainment. 
• 15 seconds
• Establishes something about the film (pets can talk to one another).
• Incorporate 'humans' in the texts to get the audience in the mindset of a pet (the main characters) and think of people as 'humans' as we do 'animals' with our pets.

The Secret Life of Pets: Theatrical Trailer

• Text that informs the audience on some of the narrative
• Introduces production and distribution companies
• Introduces main characters
• Establishes a problem and changes music very suddenly
• Voice over establishes a solution
• Moments of comedy
• Fast cuts between action shots
• Finally reveals film title with a voice over (who is not part of the cinematic plot)
• Final comedic scene
• Text that informs audience of creators of the film and release date

Skyfall: Teaser Trailer

• No dialogue, voiceover or any kind of speaking is involved
• Rock music plays throughout
• Short trailer (under 1 minute)
• Fast paced action shots and cuts in between
• Slow fades between emotional shot (with hardly any action) to establish main characters, setting and some plot

Skyfall: Theatrical Trailer

• Medium/long, establishing shot of London skyline and main character
• Voice over informs audience about the main character (reply to shot answer reveal something about the plot
• Slow fades between initial shots
• Snapshots of action establishes the genre and themes
• A problem and potential solution is established
• Montage of action shots
• Smooth transitions which adds a haunting atmosphere
• Iconic 007 symbol and music to remind audience what these films are all about
• Reveals the title and release date

The main conventions we discovered were:

• Production titles (usually 2 or 3) at the start
• Voice over visuals
• Establishing music to set atmosphere
• Black screen to start
• Fade transitions
• Black screens between cuts
• Dialogue to introduce a problem
• Titles to inform the audience on release dates and some indication of the narrative
• Shots that break the 180 degree rule to establish the set
• A problem and a potential solution is established 

After carrying out this research we decided to use some of these typical conventions in our own trailer but realised that we would first need to understand the conventions of our chosen genre.

Reflection of AS

In order to progress into our A2 we need to reflect on the choices we made to create our film opening. Our final product was 'Roads', an independent comedy film about a girl facing many social realism issues. There were lots of positive aspects but equally some negative aspects, which we will use as a learning curve as we go onto create our trailer.

Click this link to view my Prezi Presentation- https://prezi.com/p/2ke2kc_9swt0/

Creativity

Our creativity in the film opening was fairly innovative and varied. From the start of the project, we knew we wanted a specific colour palette to draw our audience in and also convey certain messages about the character. We also tried to incorporate our own credits into the props in the character's life. Although, this is an original and effective idea, our creation with the props were limited as it did not reflect the right messages to audiences, nor did they look realistic or natural.

Post-Production
Our editing skills developed massively during the project as we discovered different ways to use iMovie to make the film opening look how we wanted. However, I would have been more careful in hindsight, to ensure all our continuity to correct.

Digital Technology
Our use of the Cannon DSLR cameras, iMovie, microphones and other technologies helped us to gain the understanding and skills to create a decent piece of media, which are transferrable to A2 work. I would have liked to have experimented with iMovie more and use the detailing that was accessible to us.

Real Media Conventions
Although we each did sufficient research into the kind of convents that occurs in real film openings, the actual process of transferring those idea into our own film was limited. In fact after our third edit, we decided to re-brainstorm comic ideas and recognise what kind of camera shots and props are used in comedies to display a modern comedy film on screen.





Research and Planning
By our third day of shooting, we should have redrafted our storyboard so we had a clearer idea in our heads of what the opening would look like and it would have also meant that we were more prepared when it came to reshooting.



Sound
In hindsight I would have preferred a different choice of music for the duration of the film opening as I do not think it represented the character's state of mind in the way that I wanted it to. We could have searched on epidemicsounds.com (a copyright free website) for longer to source the appropriate choice of music for our piece. An previous to this we should have brainstormed what we would expect sound wise from the visuals. While recording the sound for our AS piece we did experiment with a variety of different technologies such as microphones and camera phones and also learnt how to enhance the sound on iMovie, which are skills we can transfer when we come to creating our film trailer.



Costume, Makeup, Set and Props
As mentioned in the creativity section I think the props needed to be made more realistic and in order to do this more planning had to have taken place so we knew where to source the correct props or materials to make the props.
We learnt early on in filming that the our mise-en-scene did not appear realistic on screen (for example, the bedroom did not appear to belong to a teenage girl) so we chose to develop the set and props further to make it realistically appropriate for the character.


Cinematography/ Camera work
We should have experimented more with different camera angles and recognised which ones in particular are used in comedy films and done a comparison of them all as I feel this would have made an impact on the overall effectiveness of our film opening, especially if we followed more of the comic conventions.




Performance
Our direction for actor was organised and effective as we had planned out the exact characteristic of Ebony's role. This enabled us to tell her how the character, Samantha was behave in particular situations and the kind of stance, attitude, facial expressions, gait and vocals she would have.
Previous to this, we also had a clear script, shooting and decided to talent source a selection of drama students to ensure our actor would perform well. These are techniques that I think we should also use in our A2 work.