I watched trailers in varying sub-genres of comedy to get the idea of what is included in a comedy trailer. This will also allow me to make a final decision on what comedy sub genre I wish to focus on.I watched 9 romantic comedy trailers, 13 action/horror comedy trailers, 7 pure comedy trailers, 3 black comedy trailer and 4 parodies.
Romantic Comedies (rom coms)
These trailers focuses mainly on the romantic aspect of the film; they very often open with a reference to love or girlfriends. They include the occasional gag or joke, throughout to represent the comedy part. Usually for this, the soundtrack stops, giving more emphasis on it. The background music also changes at the disruption part of the film, to more disheartening, reflective sounds. Also voice over directly reflects the shot on screen. One trailer that obeys these conventions is Made of Honour (2006, dir. Paul Weiland)
Action Comedy
Starts with the use of parallel editing, like romcoms. However, shows more contrast between the superhero and ordinary boy, than the simple reference between the two girls. Zooms, parallel music and other editing techniques are used to emphasis the action. Quick cut montage of action towards the end to build tension. Has titles between shots to give extra information and to break up the action. Several gags throughout, in which the music stops for, also ends on a gag either before or after showing the information relevant to the film. A trailer that follows these conventions is Kickass (2010, dir. Matthew Vaughn)
Black Comedy
The trailer opens with an introduction, to identify the issues addressed in the film. There seems to be more title screens or a more prominent voice over in black comedy, opposed to other types of comedy, perhaps to emphasise the drama aspect. The music changes to more uplifting towards the end of the trailer, to stop the trailer seem too 'depressing' or to hint at a happy ending. There is more gags and comedic aspects in a black comedy trailer as the other content is more dramatic and therefore needs more balance. Black comedies seem to be more of a 'journey', whether emotional or physical. An example of a trailer that follows these conventions is 50/50 (2011, dir. Jonathan Levine)
Parody
Parodies start with a serious scene from what they are mocking, with titles that correspond with the serious film. There is then a comedic spin in one of the clips, showing there is comedy, often the titles will change too. There are exxagerated sound effects in parodies than other films and the soundtrack is usualy comedic once the comedy has been introduced. Trailers usually consist of clips that some up the whole film, some emhasising on the comedy more than others. The trailer below is for Vampires Suck (2010, dir. Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer)
From looking into these conventions, I have realised a comedy with a prominent action aspects, would be unsuitable for me to do, as a reasonably a lot of action is shown in the trailer. And this action may be not possible for me to do, and look professional; with limited resources. However fromm my audience feedback, parody and black comedy were the next most popular. I personally prefer Romantic comedies, and I could put more into a subgenre that I enjoy more.
A film trailer is created alongside a film to advertise a film and informs the audience about it to make them want to watch it themselves, which generates money for the production company, allowing them to make more films. Without a film trailer, the film may reach a more more limited audience, resulting in a reduced profit for the production company.
Wikipedia defines a film trailer as
"A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema."
Film trailers:
normally between 30 seconds long and 3 minutes long; a shorter trailer is called a teaser trailer or promo and a longer trailer is called a full length trailer.
they include clips from the film to give a rough idea of what the film will be like.
Most have more than one trailer
if there is more than one potential audience different trailers will be used to aim at different audiences.
May also include clips that do not make it into the final edit of the film
A typical teaser trailer looks like this. This is for The Hunger Games (2012, dir. Gary Ross)
And this a full length trailer of the same film is seen here which 2:29mins long
anywhere in which a film is being promoted, such as film festivals.
data streaming sites such as iTunes or Amazon where the film may be bought.
Film magazines may also mention a trailer, obviously it cannot be shown. However, they may feature the trailer on their websites.
As trailers are primarily aimed at the potential audience of a film to draw them in. They are distributed to the audience in appropriate ways; for example, if a film is aimed at teenagers, the trailer will most probably be shown at showings of similar films and on the advert breaks of TV programmes on a teenage based channel such as E4.
Trailers are released up to the release of a film, this generates a hype around the film to get people excited for it and therefore want to watch it. Usually a teaser trailer is released first with other full length trailers released after it closer to the release of a film. Trailers stop being released around a month before a film is released into cinemas as it builds excitement for the actual film.
Strauss theories how binary opposites drive the narrative. These opposites can be anything, but they are often important in the narrative. An example would be in the classic action film; it is often good vs evil and this is what the plot mainly revolves around.
In a typical romance film it may be love vs hate or men vs woman. For example in Hitch (2005, dir. Andy Tennant) the lead female and lead male throughout the film are competing for power, which drives the narrative and showing the conflict between the two genders
Usually in comedy, the opposites may still be good vs evil or strong vs weak (and the weak often being the leading ‘good’ character). But there is just more of a comedic take on it.
Obviously, this conflict is more prominent in parodies, and they are based on serious films that require the conflict. But other comedy films still require this conflict; for example American pie (1999, dir. Paul Weitz) shows the lives of some American high schoolers. The main character, Jim (Jason Biggs) is unpopular and unlucky in love and the film follows his journey up to Prom night, contrasting and conflicting with others around him. So the conflict broadly, could be popular vs unpopular. But more specifically to this film it could also be those having sex vs those not having sex.
The trailers for films often give away what the conflict is as this is the main idea behind the plot, without giving too much of the plot away.
Rock of Ages ( 2012, dir. Adam Shankman) shows very obviously the conflict that is present in the film. Between those who want to keep the club and those who don't. Perhaps though, this is because it is a very obvious conflict. In the trailer below, there is a scene of the two opposing parties protesting opposite each other. Maybe in a film where the conflict is more subtle, it wouldn't be shown from the trailer.
21 Jump Street (2012, dir. Phil Lord and Chris Miller) is the story is of two undercover cops in a high school as they find a drug dealer. However, from the trailer, you can't tell whether the cops are against the other policemen or if they stay against the students. Perhaps it is this mystery of the conflict which makes the film look appealing from the trailer. However, you can tell a broad set of opposites from the trailer; good vs evil. It just isn't clear who is on what side, from this.
Some more alternative or niche films, have less of a precise conflict and it is often the main character(s) against the rest of the world. For example; Little Miss Sunshine (2006, dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris) is the story of a family travelling across the country to a beauty pageant whilst running into lots of situations. As the only reoccurring characters in the film, and they are all 'on the same side'. There is no possibility of having conflict from other characters. The only conflict in the film are the situations they run into.
Similarly, Juno (2007, dir. Jason Reitman) doesn't have a particular conflict, just is Juno vs the rest of the world as she gets judged on, and copes with; her pregnancy.
Roland Barthes describes text as ‘ a galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of signified’. A signifier is something’s physical form or connotation; a signified is how something is being represented. This means that a narrative is a mass of objects, in which you can determine however you perceive it into what it signifies. There is no structure to the signified, therefore can be interpreted differently to each viewer.
This is what makes up an ‘open’ narrative; there are many different ways the narrative could go and no definite storyline. The opposite of this is a closed narrative, which only seems to have one way to follow the narrative, and usually gets resolved.
Usually closed narratives are used in comedy, as open narrative causes mystery and thrill, something that most comedy don’t rate very highly in importance. As the story within a comedy is usually quite simple; the unnecessary thrill from having an open narrative is not needed. An example of an open narrative is a soap opera like Eastenders. In this; there could be no ending, and characters shift in and out of the spotlight and prominence. There is more than one storyline and the time in the text may feel more like ‘real time’ with less time-lapse effects.
One film that does use an open narrative is Love Actually (2003, dir. Richard Curtis). Which is classed as a romantic comedy. It follows the love lives of a variety of people in the 5-week run up to Christmas. It was released in November 2003, which coincided with the narrative allowing to bring in the audience in more. All ten stories interact with each other, and there are no character types, just different situations and opinions. This must then be an open narrative as there are many ways the story could go and no obvious structure.
An example of a closed narrative would be opposite to this. There is only mainly one storyline, which gets followed through to the end. And all the audience’s attention is on that one story; this allows for the audience to make presumptions about the characters (such as Propp’s character types). Also as there is only one story, it allows you to go deeper into the story, with the use of voice overs or flashbacks into past events. These can also be used in open narratives to gain more information quickly. There is usually a smaller number of main characters in a closed narrative and usually time is compressed more than it would be in open narratives. Usually, information provided in a closed narrative is special to that narrative and is different to the outside world and specialised to that story.
Closed narratives are used in most films, and as an example; Scott Pilgrim vs the world (2010, dir. Edgar Wright). The plot follows the story of Scott defeating Ramona’s evil exes, and because of the simple storyline it is easier to make presumptions about the type of characters, for example, it is obvious Scott is the hero and the exes are the villains. It also allows us to go into the back-story behind the exes, which if there was more than one narrative- we may not be able to do. There is also a smaller main cast than Love Actually. There seems less of a gap as there are multiple villains in Scott Pilgrim; but if you count them as a whole, then it becomes considerably less. Also, what happens in the narrative isn’t related to what happens in real life. For example, the release of Love Actually reflected the beginning of the narrative, whilst Scott Pilgrim is a film to escape into a fantasy world. Although, the different back stories of the different exes, could be considered the start of an open narrative.
Barthes codes-
Barthes believes these are all present in a media text.
The enigma code- this starts a story, or asks a question but doesn’t give you the answer or the rest of the story. This is used particularly a lot in trailers, as they get the audience interested, but don’t give everything away so that they become interested and want to see the rest of the film. In general for film as a whole, the enigma code is used mainly in thrillers and horrors to create tension. The enigma code can be made through the use of: Jammings (openly showing there is no answer); Snares (avoiding the truth)and Equivocations (only telling part of the truth).
By using these, it keeps the audience guessing and therefore keeping their interest in the film. For trailers, you couldn’t show most of these in a trailer, as it may give too much information away. But you could perhaps show the aftermath of one of these events; or perhaps showing an equivocation and not revealing it is the whole truth.
The proiaretic code works in conjunction with the enigma code; the proiaretic code is where one event suggests another event will happen- this therefore keeps the reader guessing and interested into what will come next, which is also good for building tension. Barthes describes the proiaretic and enigma codes as dependant on one another.
Barthes also theorised connotation and denotation in his connotative code. Denotation is the literal meaning of a word, whereas connotation is what it represents. By using connotations in a media text, the filmmaker can portray another level to the text. This also means that a limited text can be analysed deeper than it would otherwise, by using what is in the text and thinking what it represents.
Similarly, he also had the symbolic code, which shows symbolism within the text; allowing the text to be processed deeply too.
Lastly there is the referential code, which identifies anything that is taken as fact in the text. For example- a period drama may show magic as a fact within the text; however other films will not. This is also called the culture code as it is similar to cultural relativism (where different cultures believe different things and this is correct for that culture)
Bibliography for this post:
http://www.slideshare.net/etaylorchs/narrative-5566418
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=narrative
http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elljwp/5codes.htm
I mentioned in my genre research that Propp’s character theirs are
particularly prominent in Action films. But also, modern films are taking a new
twist on Propp’s character types by missing some out or having a character
fulfil more than one character type. This is particularly present in
Psychological thrillers as the villain may be the same as the protagonist, just
a different side of them. There may not even be a villain in some psychological
thrillers, you just think there is. Propp’s character types are:
Hero (protagonist)
Villain (antagonist)
The donor (donates something to the cause)
The helper
The princess (seen as a goal)
The dispatcher( sends the hero off)
The false hero (tries to be a hero and fails)
Comedies unlike thrillers however, do often fit quite closely to
Propp’s character types. An example is Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010, dir.
Edgar Wright)
Hero - Scott
Villain- the league of evil exes (but ultimately, Gideon)- they are the
ones Scott has to overcome to win Ramona
The donor- Knives- she basically donates Scott and allows him to go
after Ramona
The helper- Stacey/Wallace- they both advise and help Scott how to
defeat the exes
The princess- Ramona- she is Scott final goal and the reason he has to
fight
The dispatcher- Wallace/Stacey- As in this film Scott has to no choice
but to fight, these two simply ‘push him in the right direction’
The false hero – Gideon- he is fighting Scott for Ramona, and tries to
have her for himself.
As it is the false heroes job to go after the Princess and fail, and
the narrative of Scott Pilgrim is to fight people who used to date Ramona, in
this film (and possibily others with a similar theme) the false heroes are the
villains, as they have failed to get the Princess. However, in this story,
Gideon is the only ex that is still trying to fight for Ramona, the others aren’t
bothered about getting her again. This is why I singled out Gideon for the
false hero. He is also the main villain as he is the leading force behind the
league of evil exesand the others are
only fighting on behalf of Gideon. Also Wallace and Stacey are placed for both
the helper and the dispatcher because they both help Scott with his quest to
win Ramona and both help him set off to fight the evil exes. Possibly; donor,
helper and dispatcher; Knives, Stacey and Wallace could all be interchangeable as
they all help and advise Scott in fighting.
Scott Pilgrim is based on a graphic novel, so therefore its roots are
in the Action genre, which is why the character types are relatively easy to
place. A comedy that is perhaps harder to place Character types onto is Little
Miss Sunshine (2006, dir Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris).
Hero- Olive
Villain-
The donor- Dad
The helper- Grandfather
The princess-
The dispatcher- Mother
The false hero-
The closest thing to a villain in the film is the events they come to
whilst travelling. Similarly, for a princess, the closest thing for that is the
happiness they are trying to achieve by getting to the beauty pageant. As that
is the princess, the false heroes may be the other contestants in the pageant,
although these are not central to the narrative at all. There are also two more main characters, Dwayne and Frank who I can't place into the theory, perhaps only as helpers, but even then; they don't particularly help, they have only been forced to come along.
I conducted some initial audience feedback to find out what the target audience thought of different genres and sub-genres of comedy. I used a sample of 20 students, with some older participants for comparison. As whatever film I make, it will be mainly aimed at teenagers, i thought students would make a good sample. I did a survey online to make the most of the technology I had access to. Although, more females than males responded to the survey, therefore it may not fully reflect the attitudes of all students to different genres. My survey can be found here.
The first two questions are just to determine who is taking the survey and if they fit the target audience.
Question 3, 'what is your favourite film genre?' is to determine which genre is most popular within the target audience, and if it isn't comedy, what it would be the most popular genre. My results showed that comedy was the most popular genre from my sample [pie chart left]. This reinforces my eariler descision that comedy is the best genre to choose when my target audience is teenagers.
After this, there is a question asking how highly they rated the following subgenres of comedy. This is to see which sub-genre of comedy is the most popular with the target audience. This was to see what people thought of each individual subgenre and rate them with the adjectives love, like, will watch (not bothered), dislike and hate. No one chose hate for any of the subgenres, showing that comedy is a popular genre. The least popular sub genres were Romantic comedies and Teen comedies as these received the least amount of 'loves' and 'likes'. [see chart right] The most popular sub genre was action comedies, which also received more 'loves' than any other sub-genre; showing it is a very popular sub-genre. Parodies were the next popular subgenre.
Some comments on why people liked action comedies are: 'I like to laugh, and I like explosions therefore I like laughing at explosions'; 'the action keeps me thrilled' and 'they are not dull'. Parodies were also popular, as were Comedy dramas (black comedies).
Some comments about parodies were, 'they are funny as they are not serious'; 'not dull' and 'the humour is the best in them'.
Some comments about comedy dramas were: 'always a good laugh, often 'feel good' films, or ones with a happyish ending'; 'They can be funny without trying to be as they are entertaining and interesting without becoming tedious or repetitive.' and 'they reflect real life, whilst the comedy makes the drama easier to handle'. I found that out of these three (action comedy, parodies and comedy dramas); females tended to prefer comedy dramas and males tended to prefer parodies and action comedies, with some exceptions.
Another question was 'Which type of trailer do you think is more important?' I wanted to know this because it may sway my choice in what sort of trailer to make. The results to this question were very close. 53% thinking teasers were more important, and 47% thinking full length were more important. [pie chart right] Although asking which is more important doesn't ask which they prefer, only which they think promotes the film the best. Perhaps the lack of information given in a teaser trailer allows them to want to find out the rest of the narrative by watching the film. This is also supported by one of my later questions, where all the responses said that in a trailer either 'some of the plot' (85% of responses) or 'no plot- just general idea of the film' (15% of responses) should be given away in a trailer.
I had two questions were participants could help with individual ideas, firstly: 'What comedy film do you think there isn't enough of?' three people suggested action comedy; and some other comments were: 'a comedy thriller'; 'a comedy drama'; 'not a romantic comedy' and 'something ironic'.
Secondly I asked if they had any individual film ideas for me and the only suitable comment was: 'Superhero or action comedy where the protagonist/superhero isn’t a usual hero'.
my questionnaire can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PC9J8RJ
Todorov states in his theory of equilibrium that the narrative within a film starts at equilibrium. Then there is a disruption, then the leading characters recognise the disruption and start on the repair and finally the narrative is restored to equilibrium. Applying this to a film demonstrates how it is present in most films. Some don’t start at the equilibrium, but you can recognise what the equilibrium may have been before.
Mean Girls (2004, dir. Mark Waters)
Equilibrium- Kady has started at High school
Distribution- The plastics try to make friends with her
Recognition of disruption- Her other friends find out
Repair- Janice, Damian and Kady try to irritate Regina
Restoration- they all become friends and get along
Although, also with this film, there is an initial disruption, however this never tries to get resolved, this is when Kady has to move to America. For this part, the equilibrium is Kady living in Africa, the disruption is moving house and recognition of disruption is when she starts school. You could say that the repair and restoration is dealing with the fact she is in a strange country and accepting their culture and the final equilibrium is living in peace in America. It could be easier to say, that in the film Mean girls, there is no starting equilibrium, it starts at at the disruption, whilst the equilibrium ony gets mentioned. So application to the theory could also be:
Equilibrium- Kady lives in Africa
Distribution- She moves and the plastics try to make friends with her
Recognition of disruption- Her other friends find out
Repair- Janice, Damian and Kady try to irritate Regina
Restoration- they all become friends and get along
Using Todorov’s theory in trailers, different genres emphasise on different parts the theory in a trailer. For example a thriller trailer may focus heavily on the disruption part, as this may be the more thrilling aspect. An example of this is Super 8 (2011, dir. JJ Abrams); everything shown in this trailer happens in the first half an hour of the film. This then intrigues the audience to watch the film and find out more what happens later on. Also, purely from this trailer- the title of the film is barely connectable, except from the flickering at the end of the trailer just before the titale is shown which is connecting with Super 8 film.
Comedy however, depending on the subgenre, shows an over view of all parts of the theory, and giving a better all-rounded idea of the narrative. This may be because the disruption is less noticable or drastic in a comedy film, and the main comedy comes from the resolution of the disruption, whereas in thrillers, the main 'thrill' is the disruption. Which requires the two trailers to focus on different parts of the narrative. This is shown in Mean Girls (mentioned above). Where we barely even notice the disruption, it 'just happens' and the majority of the rest of the film is changing that. Also, in the trailers, as it is showing all parts of the theory, a lot of the narrative is shown; so the audience knows what to expect. This is shown in a trailer for Mean Girls.
