Codes and Conventions of

Film TrailersFilm Posters

Magazine Covers

As a part of my Secondary Research, I gathered intelligence about what are considered the codes and conventions of Film Trailers, Film Posters

and Magazine Covers, all products I would later produce. Kevin Ntueba

Codes and Conventions of Film Trailers

• Although the context in film trailers tends to vary, there are many codes and conventions in which they adhere to , these rules essentially when used well result in successful trailers. People are changing, audiences (consumers) are evolving forcing the producers to present their ideas in a slightly different way, as to steer in an audience. Here are a few examples of film Trailers that have been released in the last 5 years.

The Production Company logo is commonly shown towards the beginning of a film trailer, This informs the audience of who made/wrote/directed the film. These may be focal to drawing in audiences who may have seen work from the same company/director/writer. An example of this would be in the Conjuring where the trailer makes it clear that the directors of Insidious and Saw made the film. Similarly as I could account from experience. After watching all seven Saw Films/Trailers which featured the Lionsgate logo, whenever I see that a film has come out in my specified genre which has been produced by Lionsgate I am drawn to it, something Production Companies would have intended. A big budget logo/company can help sell a film significantly.

Film Production Company Logos

The title of the film is present in nearly every trailer, it is considered fundamental that the Audience are aware of what the film is called. This is often shown at the end of a trailer, Production companies will altar the font they use to make it more memorable for the Audience. For Franchises this works perfectly as they are able to make the viewer aware Of their franchise which would most likely use the same mode of presentation of the title. An example of a few franchises would be the slasher movies The Texas Chainsaw MassacreAnd the Seven Saw films.

The Film Title

One of the examples of how film trailers have evolved is the use of social media, the Film Companies have noticed this rise in use of the internet. A convention which has been recently established are website/URL’s, Twitter ‘hashtag’s or accounts to follow on social media sites such as Facebook. This allows the audience to look into the film further, making the advertising of a film campaign more effective as it reaches a wider audience. The social media also allows people to talk about and share information with one another, for example, tweets, Facebook posts or YouTube film reviews. Film companies want people talking about and watching their film and the social media allows to interact with their audiences directly.

The Social Media

The length of a film trailer is often between 1min 30s and 2mins, however in for instance however trailers you may have ones that are 20 seconds or even 10 seconds long! An example of a recent one would be the Quiet Ones. The title of the film may not be shown either, you want to see more don’t you, you want to know the plot! Teaser trailers and short trailers are another way film companies make you think just that.

The Duration

Coming to a cinema near you! The release date of a film in a trailer can be a vital attraction for particular audiences for instance horror movies like Saw who release a film during the Halloween period. The release date is also usually shown towards the end of the trailer, the trailer is shown some time prior to the release to ensure as many people as possible have seen it before they release it to the public.

Release Date

As I have discussed earlier in my Secondary Research section the BBFC rating my be shown in trailers to make audiences aware of which age groups of people should be allowed to watch the film. This is often the target audience, the rating will reflect what the contents of the film will be.

BBFC Age Rating

The Music (sound) in a film trailer is another key feature, it can in many cases make or break a film, for example hypothetically hearing a Beyoncé Knowles song in a horror would arguably shock the world, It would be an irrelevant use of sound in terms of the context of horror films. The sound should reflect the genre, for example classical music is sometimes used in horrors/thrillers to create a sense of suspense, like in Dead Silence and I Spit on Your Grave 2.

Voice-overs can be equally just as important, for instance The Book of Eli, (Denzel Washington) uses voice-overs to give the audience more information about the plot and the characters. Like in V for Vendetta a voice over can be part of the film, added on top or sections of dialogue.

Sound, Music, Voiceovers

Some films’ selling point is the main character in the film, this could be said to be true of The Wolf of Wall Street, The Great Gatsby which both star Leonardo DiCaprio. Similarly The Book Of Eli and Flight feature Denzel Washington as the main character, his name is shown in each of the trailers. Famous and well known actors may drawn in audiences who are familiar with their work. For example personally anything with Zoe Saldana from Colombiana and Star Trek in it I would watch, similarly with Christian Bale, a great actor who brings a realness to the films he stars in as main characters that is rare For example his role in Equilibrium, The Machinist and as Batman in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises. So when the two came together in Out of the Furnace you could imagine my excitement.

To conclude, the actors can significantly contribute to the success of a film.

Character Introductions

Actors you should keep an eye on!And shouldn’t sleep on!

Christian Bale Zoe Saldana Denzel Washington Kerry WashingtonBatman Begins, Equilibrium, Harsh Colombiana, Star Trek, Out of Malcom X, Book of Eli, Flight The Last King of Scotland, RayTimes, Machinist, Dark Knight Rises The Furnace, Avatar, After Sex Training Day, Safe House Django Unchained – Scandal

Jake Gyllenhaal Eddie Murphy Jessica Alba Samuel.L Jackson Gerald ButlerPrisoners, End of Watch Coming to America, Nutty Profess. Fantastic 4, The Eye, Honey The negotiator, Unthinkable Law Abiding Citizen, 300

Codes and Conventions of Film Posters

Typography is simply the style and appearance of printed matter. For example on the Colombiana Film Poster the tag line is written at the top of the poster, in contrast to the other text as the bottom, for instance the Title, the tag line is smaller. The actor’s name Zoe Saldana is written above the title, which is used to entice audiences to watch the film, a San Serif Font is consistent through out the poster with a similar colour scheme. The director,, production companies and their logos are all situated at the bottom of the poster, these are commonly the smallest in terms of text sie ratio on any one poster.

The tagline encourages the audience to watch it, the iconography in the poster links well with the tagline, the woman is shown with a pistol in her hand, which suggest, that she is out to inflict damage on someone else. She does not have sleeves which could connote to things getting hot/tense, there is a city in the background which she is blended into, a possible location for the film.

Typography And Written Language

The photographs in a film poster are often the most dominant signifier on the poster, there’s a notion that says Pictures speak louder than words. In many cases film poster correspond with this notion. The photograph should give the audience an insight into what the film is going to be about. Of course this will often be supported by a tagline in this case – The 300 poster PREPARE FOR GLORY and the title of the film. The 300 logo is iconic for its appearance of looking like dripping blood and blood splatter. This title is more of an illustration than written text that is why I have chosen this film poster to show how photographs and illustrations can be used in a film poster.

Interested about the history behind the film 300?! Click below to read about the Battle of Thermopylae.

Photographs and Illustrations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

The lighting of a film poster is another way of communicating the plot/theme of the movie. For example in THE EYE poster you can see that the colour scheme is a blue, black and white one. This is common in drama’s even more so in films which include medical institutions.

This is of course anchored further by the title, the photograph of the main actor (whose name is above the title in a consistent San Serif font) Jessica Alba. Beneath the title is the tagline, what this poster has done differently is the medical definition of Cellular Memory is found at the top of the poster, this has been placed there as it must play an important par in understanding the plot.

The colours convey a dark confined sense of atmosphere, the rain in the poster could also convey a storm coming. (something bad is about to happen)

Lighting and Colour Schemes

The camera angle is also another way ideas are presented in film posters, in this poster of the film FLIGHT. The man is positioned at the centre of the image in a medium shot facing away at a seemingly upward angle.. He is dressed in pilot attire so it would be reasonable to think he is look up at the sky or something else in the distance. Notice the difference between the way the Flight poster uses the camera and the Safe House Poster below doe, the Safe house poster uses two shots a extreme close up and a long shot, this could be used to convey the message of;

Camera angle- Camera Shot

The man on the right being an immediate threat, and the man on the right being a “long shot” in a sense.

Codes and Conventions of Magazine Covers

The main image is commonly the main feature of the article, these are often studio photographs usually in a medium close-up, or mid-shot, the character is often facing the viewer. This is a form of direct address.

Main Image

Magazines tend to have their own trademark font which they consistently use throughout their editions. These are using one or two words, which fill the length of the magazine at the top of the magazine. The price of the issue, the website and number of the issue is usually positioned near the masthead.

Masthead

PUFFS – are free offers/giveaways that the magazine are offering.

BUZZ WORDS – these are used to attract attention in this magazine cover a buzz word would be the PLUS! At the bottom of the magazine.

The barcode is what is scanned when an item is purchased. This varies in the position on the magazine cover however they are often placed at the bottom of the magazine.

Giveaways, Buzz words and Barcode

The Coverlines are the text layered on top of the image, in the front cover, they are designed to attract people into reading/purchasing the magazine.

The main cover line is the second largest text after the title, it therefore anchors the meaning of the image being displayed on the magazine. Some cover lines are only one or two words with a brief introduction beneath it outlining what they can expect to find inside the magazine.

Cover Lines

The strip contains the list of items which will feature inside the magazine, this is done to draw the potential consumer in on purchasing the magazine. This is often placed at the bottom however it man be placed on the top on some magazines.

Strip and Colour Scheme