Form and Conventions

Trailer 1 (Legend):

The trailer starts by introducing the companies who make the film and an aerial shot of London which is a convention of trailers so that the audience straight away knows the kind of film it will be. This is added to by the voice over the start of the trailer which tells us that its set in London in the 1960's and it introduces the two main characters of the film, the Kray Twins. While the voice over is playing we get the aerial shot of London, a shot of an old car travelling through London and then a two shot of both twins sitting in the back smoking cigars. This very simple method of setting the scene is very effective as we now know that these two are of importance, they have power because "everyone has a story about the Kray twins" and we know the era the film is set in. The genre is quickly established after that as we get a clip from a scene in which the twins start a fight and there is some humor and some action so the film can be classed as an action comedy. We then get a proper introduction as there is a voice over taken from some dialogue in the film that introduces the twins and as he says there names we get a close up of each one so we can tell which one is Ronnie and which is Reginald; this really helps the audience to be interested and connected to the film and want to really see more and go and watch the film. The trailer then goes on to explain the plot of the film with some added humor to keep the audience interested and the trailer makes it clear to us that the film is about two gangsters. The trailer finishes with lots of quick cuts, loud music and lots of action to really set the tone of the film and to draw the audience in one last time to really make them want to see more about the film and to go and watch it when it comes out.

The structure of the trailer follows the conventions you would expect from a trailer as it starts by introducing the characters and the scene with the production and distribution companies names. The trailer then goes on to explain the plot with lots of clips from the film and lots of action and humor, text is also used on screen in order to help the audience understand what is going on a little more but not too much so they have to think for themselves or see more. Then the trailer will end with loud music and lots of action clips until it shows the film title and when it is coming out in cinemas. This is a very typical and conventional method in order to compile a trailer, the music and texts used will all sound and look like they are from the era the film is set and match the genre well.

Trailer 2 (Everest):

The trailer for the film 'Everest' again follows the same conventions and similar patterns to that of 'Legend'; the trailer starts with lots of aerial shots of the mountain to set the scene with a voice over from one of the characters talking and explaining how dangerous everest is, we then get a very quick look at the production company (Universal). This is usually how most trailers start to set the scene and the tone of the film. Then, the trailer goes on to show the characters and give a very brief introduction to the main characters, focusing mainly on 'Doug Hansen' who aims to be the first postman on Everest who i presume to be the main character. Next, the plot is revealed to us and this also introduces more characters to us at the same time, I understand that they are trying to climb Everest and they reach the peak but on the way down a storm hits and it follows the story of the climbers and their families getting the news while back at home. Again, this is a very conventional thing to do throughout the middle of the trailer, after the audience is hooked by the tone and scene of the film the audience then gets an idea of the plot with some on screen text, usually saying when the film comes out or if its a true story, which is this case it had both. Everest's trailer end with lots of quick action clips and an intense orchestrated piece of music to really hook the audience for the last time and attract their attention to the name of the film which is on its own in the middle of the screen in a very large font, which again is a convention of movie trailers. After the title is shown, there is one last aerial clip of Everest and then all the legal text that they have at the end of most/all trailers.

The structure of this trailer is not much different to Legend, in almost all areas it follows the same conventions that the typical hollywood trailer would. Using wide or aerial shots to set the scene while a voiceover plays describing the location and setting the tone of the film is a very typical and conventional way to start a trailer but it is also very effective because the audience can quickly decide whether they want to watch it or not. Characters and production companies also get introduced very quickly in trailers to immediately attach the viewer to the trailer. In Legend's case, the trailer started with companies then location and characters together, however, Everest did location, company and characters. The same conventions are being followed but different films vary these slightly in order to prevent trailers looking similar. The rest of the trailer is almost identical to that of Legend as the plot is explained, there are lots of short clips of action with very loud music and then the title appears which shows that Everest does follow the conventions of a movie trailer if it is similar to another trailer. Before the legal text that comes up on screen, the trailer shows one last clip which is an aerial shot of the mountain to reinforce the tone and the scene of the film this again is something that is very common in films in order to bring back the interest of anyone that might have been fading from the trailer once the title has play. Both Everest and Legend are big Hollywood films and so their trailers reflect this as they both closely follow the conventions of a movie trailer.

Trailer 3 (London Road):

'London Road' differs from the other two films straight away as the other two are made by major US studios or their subsidiaries, whereas this film is a nearly independent film from the UK meaning that it may not follow the conventions of a film trailer you might find in the US. However, the trailer does start by following the conventions of a normal movie trailer as we see all the companies names involved in the production, distribution and funding of the film which is the same as the trailer for 'Legend'. As the last companies name shows we hear someone speaking which is clearly taken from a point in the film, just like 'Everest', but, this time after a couple seconds, the first clip we see is the clip the audio is coming from and it is in a documentary style and does not set the scene nor does it introduce any characters or plot. This is definitely not a convention as the audio from that clip continues over the top of other characters, that we presume have some importance, that are also in the same interview situation as them. The bridged dialogue is a convention of a movie trailer but the way that it is carried out in this particular trailer is not a conventional use for it. After this short introduction we see the first graphic appear on screen, it shows the awards that the play the film is based on has won; we don't get told what the film is based on until later on in the trailer which is not a convention of movie trailers as we get told this very early on in both 'Legend' and 'Everest'. After this we get introduced to the plot and some of the characters through out the middle of the trailer; the plot isn't completely clear and we don't know any of the characters names which makes it hard for the audience to get attached to the characters. A conventional movie trailer would make the plot very clear and would introduce the main characters in relative detail so that the audience gets attached quickly and want to know more. We also learn the genre and pace of the film in this time as the music in the background is the characters singing as it cuts to clips of multiple characters singing along which means that it is a music; the tone of the film comes from the forensics teams and the police that are all over the setting of the film, London Road, which creates quite a dark tone to it and we learn that there is a mass murder caught on London Road, the music is very edgy as well. Multiple graphics then start to pop up which tell us that it is a true story and that is a convention of a movie trailer. After these graphics have finished and the song has ended just over half way through the trailer there is a turning point where everything gets much happier as they try and redeem their communal status and this is similar to 'Everest', however, 'Everest' does the opposite as it starts happy and triumphant and turns into this turmoil; but that dramatic change of tone is definitely something that is a convention in movie trailers. The trailer ends using the conventions that both the other two trailers had, the trailer ended with lots of quick cutting clips and music that was loud and tried to create a very strong atmosphere just before the title appears, and the music bridges over onto the title unlike the other trailers. Another thing that is not conventional is the use of text over the top of the clips from the film, as the quick cuts are happening the reviews for the film are being shown on screen, usually they would get their own space on screen to add emphasis and importance to then but that was not the case in this trailer. Finally, after the title, we see that main actors names which appears on screen identically to how they appeared in the 'Everest' trailer; we then get legal information and the trailer ends, there is no final clip to leave one last impression on the audience like the other two trailers.

The structure of the trailer for 'London Road' is vaguely similar to that of the other two trailers 'Legend' and 'Everest', all trailers have the production companies near the start and use some kind of voice over; all trailers use a text graphic of some kind in order to cut to the middle of the trailer where the plot and tone of the films are revealed; all trailers use text graphics of some kind throughout and all trailers use loud music with quick cuts just before the title and legal text is shown. However, their are some major differences which do set it a apart from a conventional trailer. Genre and characters were introduced much later than that of a conventional trailer the use of music from inside the film is not something that is regularly used, it is normally music that is external and is not from inside the film world and from the film itself. The final thing is that text graphics were overlaid onto the film clips, not just given screen time to themselves which again is very unconventional; the trailer as a whole follows a lot of the conventions of a movie trailer but their are some major things which set it apart from other trailers, which isn't always a bad thing.