Trailer Analysis

•It is mentioned at the end of the trailer that the film is available to view in Imax theatres, this attracts certain types of audience as well as letting them know that is a good enough film to be shown there.
•Use of narrative is used well in this trailer to attract an audience as it shows what appears to be Bond dying, this leaves the audience in suspense however It then lets them know he returns making them want to see the film to find out how that is possible.
•Iconic elements of the Bond genre entices audiences to watch the film,  such as showing the viewer the weapon that he got given, the action sequences and the Bond girl.
•Even though the famous actors of the film arent in fact mentioned they are shown thoughout the trailer with the aim that the audiences recognise them and come to watch the film for that reason as well as others yet they did not have to mention who they were as they were that well known.
•The editing is very fast paced, this emphasises the fact that it is a Bond film as the action is shown in short clips all bundled into one.




•Iconography used of the Men in Black franchise such as the gadgets used to erase peoples memory this is used in clips from the film as well as on the Columbia pictures statue, this is to draw in fans of the franchise’s previous films.
•Mentions that you can see it in Imax theatres, this, like Bond is used to show that it is a good quality film as it is being shown in these types of theatres.
•The use of the Columbia Pictures logo is to inform the watcher that the film is of good quality as it is produced by such a well known production company.
•There is also a part of the trailers that shows a link to social networking, this is the # sign, the is encouraging people to tweet about the trailer and the film to hopefully create a hype around it release and to “trend” on twitter.
•Like the Bond trailer there is no reference to the stars who are in this film yet they are shown throughout the trailer, this is because the franchise is so well known the stars do not even need to be mentioned to attract an audience.




•Accolades are shown at the beginning of the trailer, saying how  it won the best foreign language film at the Golden Globes, and was an original pick at certain film festivals.  This attracts a more sophisticated audience who use these accolades to decide what films to watch.
•The trailer also begins to attract an audience through the narrative, although the trailer is a little vague what is exactly going on it is clear that the film is of the drama genre and contains sophisticated films such as death and war.
•There is also a flash of the website address to attract audiences throughout the world and aiming to get them talking about the film in a hope that the hype will spread across the internet as it is such a big part of everybody's life nowadays.



•Accolades are the main part of this films attraction to audiences, it is mentioned in this trailer, these are used to attract audiences as any accolades that it has won are a way of informing the public that is a good quality film that may have sophisticated story lines, therefore. it attracts these types of viewers.
•The narrative is another way that this film trailer is trying to attract to audiences as it is in fact a sci-fi film however the clips that are shown give the impression that it has elements of drama. This begins to attract a different audience who are interested in dramas rather than science fiction.

Case Studies.

AS film studies - Case Studies from 12ahone12

Alien Analysis.

Alien, directed by Ridley Scott was produced and released in 1979 and is a science fiction film which also contains aspects of horror and film noir as well as sticking to the conventions of a typical sci-fi film. The film is shot completely upon the spaceship, Mother, which is very conventional of the sci-fi genre.

The film Alien is known as containing one of the most horrific and disturbing scenes of the time – The Chestburster scene. This scene is shown in the middle of the film and the outcome of it leads to the climax of the film, the scene shows John Hurts character, Kane, being affected by his Alien attack at the beginning of the film when all seemed to be clear.

The beginning of the scene starts with all the characters and the audience unaware of what is about to happen as it was believed that Kane was finally uncontaminated by the alien. For this reason the shock of what happens is juxtaposed by the happiness that the crew had shown in the previous scene when they found out that he was supposedly free from disease. Kane starts showing signs that all is not well when the characters are eating dinner, during this part of the scene the food in the foreground is shown out of focus and the characters in the background are in focus, this is known as shallow focus and is used to emphasise the characters emotions and how Kane is acting.

Eventually the other crew members start to realise that something is up, however it is too late. The director then cuts to a mid-shot of the back of the characters which is shown in a high angle shot to show how the Kane has become vulnerable to the disease. Many high angle shots are used in this sequence for this same reason, especially when Kane is on the table, although at this point there is also some high angle shots of the other crew members who are trying to help him, this helps to emphasise the fact that the crew are in a position of power as they are the ones who are trying to help him. At the same point when Kane is on the table the lighting is very unnatural and synthetic as it is through the rest of the film due to it being set in space, but at this point it is as if there is a spotlight upon him emphasising his pain and just what is happening to him.

At the end of the scene Kane’s chest bursts open to reveal an Alien who has been held up inside and it is as if the Alien has just been born through Kane. This is where the highlights of the horror genre are entered into this film as the scene contains a lot of blood and its purpose is to scare the audience. At the time this may have succeeded nicely however nowadays due to advances within film special effects it failed to scare me as I felt it seemed very unrealistic.

There is no music played throughout the scene which I feel is very significant to the impact that the scene has upon the audience as it highlights the diegetic sound in the scene such as the screams and reactions of the characters as well as the thrashing about of Kane and the other crew members. The only non-diegetic sound used in the scene is after Kane’s chest has burst as there is a muffled heart beat in the background, which I believe is supposed to be coming from Kane’s heart to show what has happened is so serious you can ever hear his heart beat however his heart is not physically shown in the shot and therefore cannot be classed as diegetic sound.  The heart beat sound also has the effect of seeming as if it is a countdown of how long Kane is going to live for now that this has happened, this is a typical convention of sci-fi films.

Although the Chestburster scene contains the gore element of horror, there is also another scene which contains different conventions of horror throughout, the here kitty scene. In the scene the crew member Brett, is searching for the lost cat, although it does not end as would have been expected at the beginning of the scene. The scene spends most of the scene building up the tension before Brett ends up being attacked by the Alien.

The first thing that I noticed in the scene is the framing at the beginning when Brett is moving through the corridors which is done very nicely and helps to establish the scene and focus on Brett himself, this is also done through the use of shallow focus in much of the scene. The scene contains a variety of camera shots including the most common being close up shots of Brett to show his emotions and the build up of tension through his facial expressions. The lighting of this scene links very much to film noir as it is all low key lighting which is at contrast to the previous discussed scene which was mainly synthetic unnatural lights.   

Similar to the last scene there is a background non-diegetic sound of a heartbeat which this time is counting down to the climax of that scene when Brett gets attacked. There is also non-diegetic music in the scene which comes to a loud bag at the climax after being built up throughout the scene, this helps to create tension through the scene and then create a shock once the attack actually occurs. There is also the diegetic sound of Brett saying “Here Kitty” which helps to emphasise to the audience just what he is doing there.

The editing of the scene is very slow which helps to create the tension, however it quickly changes to fast paced once the attack happens to confuse the audience. There is also a use of parallel editing in this scene with Brett searching for the cat, this is used to highlight the reasons for Brett being there bus also to show the audience that he is not near reaching the cat.

All of the scenes throughout Alien intertwine with each other however these two both show the conventions of both sci-fi  and horror as well as starting with a sense of security which then leads to a shock/scare at the end.

Analysis- The Hurt Locker

I understand i have wrote rather a lot - appologies but i struggled to cut it down, enjoy:

When analysing a scene from the Hurt Locker it became clear that the main and more prominent analytical part of the scene was the cinematography and therefore it is what I am going to focus on from the scenee cinematography and therefore it is what i more. Cinematography is basically known as “the art of making motion pictures” and specifically that includes how the use of camera shots and angles help to portray the film and its themes.

In the scene from the Hurt Locker the cinematography is used coherently and in interesting ways throughout the clip as well as focusing on other aspects which vaguely link to cinematography like the framing of each still. The film is about a bomb squad unit in the Iraq war trying to deactivate a bomb, however in the scene even with limited knowledge of the plot and storyline one can still enjoy and be interested in the scene as there is little knowledge needed to come to grips with what is happening in the scene. In this scene specifically the bomb squad unit enter a house in order to find a group of people, for a unknown reason, however they discover a mangled body of a local boy as well as coming to the understanding that who they were looking for had only recently just left.

The scene starts off with the unit preparing to enter the house as well as preparing a plan for what is ahead, the cinematography in these first few shots allows the audience to come to terms with what is happening as there is a high angle establishing shot of the unit which enables the audience to establish the scene however the use of the high angle shot implies there is a vulnerability within the group as they are not sure what they could be walking into and could also be foreshadowing what is to come in the scene as they start to understand the danger in which they are in after they find the dead boy. The idea that the unit is in danger is again foreshadowed in the next few shots and camera movements as they include a zoom and close up of the soldiers prepping their guns; this is used in vague way to show that there is some form of danger or else they would not have the guns but the use of the zoom helps to emphasise this and create more significance to the weapon putting the idea in the audiences mind that it may be needed more than they might have originally thought.

As well as here and throughout the rest of the clip and most probably the film the camera uses handheld shots which includes jerky camera movements and creates an incoherency of the shots which could confuse the audience however this is done to create a sense of a realistic scene for the audience as it is as if it is in the form of a documentary or even a news broadcast, the realism of the scene is also added to later on by the use of eye level shots of each of the characters and the setting itself.

Although the cinematography used helps to create a realistic feel of the clip there is also an emphasis on the fact that the director is also trying to make sure the audience doesn’t start to believe it too much as she uses many techniques which are conventional of film rather than documentaries such as the use of a tilt up which is used early on In the scene to establish the character as well. The mise-en-scene also plays a part in this reality fix for the audience as there is a shot where the soldier is seen walking through the reflection of water on the ground which therefore shows him upside down, this shows that the soldier is out of place of where he is but is also very technically done which makes the clip leave part of the documentary or news broadcast idea behind.

The cinematography however is used very fluidly through the use of shot reverse shot between the characters when they are walking through the building communicating with each other as this helps to not create any confusing in the audience for who is talking as well as showing the reactions and body language of each character when communicating with the others and therefore not missing any key points. The fluidity of the cinematography is also shown through the use of a long take pan of the characters searching the building this long take is used specifically to create a fluidity which is clearly shown as well as bringing back the idea of a news broadcast.

With pretty much all of the shots that are used in this scene the rule of thirds is highly considered throughout although there are some shots where this as well of the framing of the shots are used impressively. Including when the soldiers are walking down the corridors, the rule of thirds is used as the two outside thirds are taken up by the walls and therefore the middle third is focused only on the soldiers walking down the corridor so that the audience will just focus on them .It could also show a sense on confinement as it is seen as a very narrow space and therefore again showing the danger of the scene as well as unnerving the audience and creating tension.

There is also a shot in the corridor where there is two soldiers at the top close to the camera but another at the bottom of the corridor alone and out of focus this shows the isolation of the soldier as well as the danger he could be in. Framing is used well in a shot where we see on the soldiers through a window this enables the audience just to focus on him as it is as if he has a box around him emphasising his character.

However my personal favourite still of the clip is before the soldiers walk into the bedroom as the first third contains one soldier and the last third contains another soldier however the middle thirst is full of the darkness which is the doorway, there is a use of contrasting colours that juxtapose each other  as the outside is rather bright however the doorway is pitch black creating a tension and showing the danger of what could be ahead. This shot is done in a long shot to show all of the soldier’s bodies and the doorway completely to make sure that the audience can see everything that is going on.

When the soldiers enter the doorway they do not come across anything immediately however when searching the room the scene is shot in silence this is significance as it creates a tension within the audience as non of the soldiers seem to be at ease, It also creates tension through the fact that the only noise that it being played is the diegetic sound of the guns which again shows there significance within the scene and emphasising that they are still in danger.

When the soldiers then leave the bedroom and enter more of the abandoned house there is a quick pan used to show the room which they were just in but also to show that they are about to enter more of the unknown, during part of this scene where the soldier then begin to search more of the house there is the use of many close up shot reverse shots of the characters faces to create a tension within the audience as the audience is able to see the fear and danger in the facial expressions of the soldiers and it becomes clear there is a definite danger. This fear of danger is then fulfilled as they find a local boy who has been mutilated by a bomb placed in his body and then sent off, during this part of the scene more close up shots of the faces of the soldiers are used to show the horror they have just found, there is also a close up pan of the body used to shock the audience after it is clear that the victim is only young.

Overall I feel that the cinematography is used well in this clip as it is used very fluidly and in a way which is attempting to make the audience emote different emotions such as fear and shock, and it not only attempts to do this I feel that it achieves this with flying colours.

The brilliance that is, Armageddon.

A film fanatic such as myself will always have a hard decision when trying to choose a favourite film, there are that many films which I could write about why they are so technically and emotionally brilliant in my eyes, yet I have had to whittle it down to just one.

 I have chosen Armageddon, a brilliant film containing many a list actors who most defiantly stepped up to the plate, including, Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler just to name a few.  Released in July 1998, with a budget of $140 million, Armageddon was a huge box office hit raking in a massive $36 million back in its first weekend of showing in over 3000 American cinemas, and ever since has continued to earn; its total lifetime gross is over half a billion dollars the majority of which from countries outside America.

Directed by Michael Bay, Armageddon follows a journey of a group of oil drillers as lead by Bruce Willis who have been asked to save the earth from an incoming meteorite. The group are persuaded by NASA to fly out and land on the meteorite and attempt to blow it up by drilling to the centre and setting off a bomb, in hope that it will save the world. Throughout the film you are taken on a journey through each of the accidental hero’s lives as well as shown the love connection of Ben Affleck and Liv Tylers characters as much to Harry’s (Willis) disgust. Tyler and Willis play father and daughter who do not have the best relationship, while both giving immaculate performances you begin to believe and feel exactly what they are portraying, whilst feeling the emotion behind the storyline.

Michael Bay, who also helped produce Armageddon, does a stunning job behind the camera consistently keeping an audience interested through his use of camera angles and the mise-en-scene.  Although the narrative seems rather unrealistic, the body language between characters, makeup and costume as well as most other things are kept natural and realistic throughout, this helps for the audience to suspend their beliefs on the science behind the narrative,  focus on the story and indulge in the action. 

However Michael Bay and the actors must not be given all the credit, leader of the editing team Chris Lebenzon, uses many editing techniques to his advantage to achieve an incredible finish, he mainly uses fast paced editing especially during the key sequences as it is a convention of the disaster genre which makes it difficult for the audience to see everything that is going on in the scene, yet it allows the viewer to see a lot more in a short sequence. He also uses many slow-motion shots during these sequences to not only show a variety so that the audience does not get bored, but to show how the characters emotions are affected in these scenes. These completely different types of conventional editing techniques show a juxtaposition in each other as well as showing just how talented Lebenzon must be to make the shots look fluid.

Other than the technical reasons behind why Armageddon is a great film, there are reasons it appeals to me personally. The amount of A list stars in the film brings in a wide audience, which is what attracted me to the film in the first place, the likes of Bruce Willis, Michael Duncan and Owen Wilson all within the space of one film gives the film plenty of credit. Every time i see Armageddon i will always tear up at the end, and it tells me how entranced in the film i have become to cry every time, and trust me, i have seen it many of times! There is also the occasional humorous one liners which top of the fantastic script writing and enables to you enjoy aspects of other genres such as comedy, already on top of, disaster, science fiction and drama. Overall, i believe Armageddon is a brilliant film and a definite success from right inside Hollywoods blockbusters.