3 Trailer Analysis by Joanne Lloyd

Kes (1969) Planet of the Apes (1968) The Road (2009)

IntroductionThe first two trailers I looked at were Kes (1969) and Planet of the Apes(1968). I chose these as both were released within a year of each other but are two different genres so we can compare motifs, pacing and overall portrayal. Techniques of filming would have been similar, but how they implement these techniques to express emotion and storyline.

I found that pacing was similar as they both allow scenes to play without giving away any key narrative points. The camera on both trailers was steady, used various shots and edited slowly ( most likely due to the lack of technological advances in 1960’s).

Kes (1969)The characters representation in both trailers were very different; both trailers used a narrative voiceover which gave us an insight on the narrative and plot. Kes’s voiceover mainly focused on Billy (main character) and his daily life in his small home town. This is typical of the Social Realism genre as the main pull of the genre is rooted in character struggles and being able to relate to certain situations the main character faces in the plot.

The use of text is innovative, as it’s used to further reinforce the message of the narrator, as an audience we begin to question the story and characters, making us more involved. The Social Realism genre is very character driven; the narrative is ordinary, in an everyday context so must have solid, compelling characters for the audience to invest in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRYvUpsrqmg

Planet of the Apes(1968) Then I began to look at a post-apocalyptic from a more recent time, to allow more comparison and to see what advances in editing have occurred and how they are used. The genre of this trailer was Post-Apocalyptic however displayed various elements of science fiction as both genre tend to be related in certain aspects such as camera shots and narrative moments.

The trailer uses little characterization to hook the viewer instead has a unique concept with is conveyed to us by the voice over narration; music is also used to emit an emotional response when we see people being captured by the apes. Dialogue between the main character and one of the apes creates tension in the scene due to their serious tone of voice and ambiance sound. Hints toward conflict in the film which is typical of Post-Apocalyptic as themes of struggle are imminent weather it be between characters or just the situation in which characters are placed in.

The text used in this trailer in different from Kes (1969) as the text is promotional an example being “Charles Heston” as he was a famous actor and quotes from critics and origin of the concept of the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjcpRHuPjOI

The Road (2009)The editing its very smooth but is quick to increase tension, I this trailer scenes are spliced together as it shows a core scene it will keep referring to previous and future events to reinforce the message being represented by charters actions. Cuts are linked to the opening of the trailer by the television flicker as the opening showed news coverage of the world wide disasters. Overall pacing is much faster with cuts to text to indicate towards narrative with dramatic words and phrases.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbLgszfXTAY

The characters are very typical, costume is accurate as the characters are living in this very, harsh dystopian landscape shown visually though long/establishing shots. Emotions are expressed through dialogue and close-ups and reaction shots.

ConclusionThere is a huge contrast between the different trailers when looking at editing, use of sound and camera techniques. However, the main driving force of the trailers are all dependent on characters and representation.