Codes and Conventions of trailers.

Codes and Conventions of film trailers.

In our media lesson we looked at the codes and conventions of trailers. We did this in preparation for our final piece. I identified the typical codes and conventions to be:

·         Diagetic sound.

·         Non-diagetic sound.

·         Key signifier.

·         Mise en scene.

·         Voice over.

·         Green Classification page.

·         Captions.

·         Date of release.

·         Credits.

·         Production Company’s name.

The trailers we looked at were: The Shining, The Omen, and Dinner for Shmucks.

When we looked at the trailer for The Shining, it was a good insight to how simple making a trailer can be. In the trailer, they simply used on shot of a hallway with some lift doors at the end. There are then some credits that run up the screen indicating the main people in the film and the title. The lift door then begins to open in slow motion and blood begins to pour down the hallway towards the camera that is in a low position. Blood splashes up the camera and covers that lens, making the room look red. We then see that the current of the blood has taken some of the chairs and tables in the room, with it. The blood is used as the key signifier. This is so simple but yet so effective. There is only one camera shot in this trailer and no cuts.

We also looks at a spoof of the shining that made the trailer look like it was a comedy. This was very good because all they did was change the backing music and pick out certain parts of the trailer that weren’t all gory and horrible. This is hard to do because they haven’t actually manipulated any of the scenes.

The advert for The Omen was another interesting one that we looked at because it was all done in one shot, but unlike the advert for The Shining, the camera actually moves. It starts on a picture of a dog, in a low angle shot. This shot made the dog look really big and menacing, which was effective because it automatically adds the sense of fear. Then it begins to track around this children’s play area, which some how they have made to look sinister and scary. They have done this by used low light and the sound. The sound was a swing creaking, which indicates that the camera is making its way towards the swing and it also adds a sense of enigma. It then moves across and we can actually see the back of the swing with a young boy on it. It slowly tracks across to the front of him. It uses close ups of the boys face, which is useful because it makes you wonder what he is doing. It then has a shot from the side of him, and he turns his head and stares at the camera. This is very effective because it is quite scary and mysterious. The boy is wearing an extremely enhanced red cloak; this is also a key signifier. It is commonly known as a colour for danger and fear. This works well because it adds a sense of unease and discomfort.