1) The typical codes and conventions of film trailers:
- Institutional information - Actor/director names (studio and production company name)
- Title - at the end = release date + tagline
- Narrative:
- Propp's character theory
- Action sequences/ dramatic movements - Action Codes (Barthes)
- Voiceover/text-on-screen/dialogue - establish narrative and character
- Music - non-diegetic sound
- Promotional info - website/hashtag/social media
- Review quotes
2) How are trailers distributed?
For many decades, film trailers have been distributed via cinemas, however as technology and generations have advanced, in order to ensure worldwide distribution to a larger audience, YouTube is a popular place for distributors to upload the trailers and social media platforms are now used to share the link amongst potential audiences.
- Text-on-screen - it has a message at the very beginning of the clip which states that 'We are all products of our environment... Some environments are just harder to survive in' This gives the audience something to reflect upon as they watch the upcoming sequence of events from the film
- Voiceover sound-bridges have been used from one scene and added on top of another, which slightly tells part of the story.
- Action sequences were used - repetitive use of similar scenes such as various characters pointing guns, various characters having fights, as well as different people taking drugs. A small, fast-paced montage had been used
- Music was used which was non-diegetic and could have also been a substitute for a voiceover since the song itself relates well to the events occurring in the clip. Also, there is notable cross-promotion as this song is also the soundtrack to the movie and was also created by Plan B, the director of 'Ill Manors'
- Promotional information - at the end of the trailer there is social media being promoted to the audience
- Review quotes have been offered by Q magazine, FHM and TimeOut, which can appeal to the audience
4) Who is the target audience? Does it have a unique selling point or use particular techniques to appeal to the audience? Consider the way the scenes are edited together – does the trailer give away any clues about the narrative? Are the main stars visible in the trailer? Is there information about the director of the film? Is there information about the release date? Is a narrator’s voice-over used? Why?
The assumed target audience appears to be 13- 25 year olds since this seems to be the age range of the majority of the characters featured within the trailer
I think that a unique selling point of the movie is just the fact that a quite well-known rapper was the person who directed the movie as his debut movie which would appeal to current fans of the rapper as they may be inquisitive to see what a movie from his perspective would be like. Since most of his fans are likely to be around the same age, and perhaps from the same background as him, this fanbase he already has can, in itself, be a selling point because they may feel they can relate to parts of the film and may feel they can identify with him further.
The trailer only seems to have highlighted the negative aspects of the movie - it pieces together all of the similar violent, fight scenes which isn't a true reflection of the movie itself. Although a large portion of the movie is centered around the negative events displayed in the trailer, kindness and compassion is also presented, particularly in the character Aaron, which fails to be displayed within the trailer itself. This therefore shows that the assumed narrative would be all based on violence and gang culture, However, the film itself delves into more of each main character's
The director, known as 'Plan B''s name does appear about a third of the way through the trailer. He is described as a 'visionary artist' here.
The narrator is Plan B, in the form of the lyrics from his song 'Ill Manors' which is the soundtrack to the movie. It is used to accompany the events of the trailer.
The assumed target audience appears to be 13- 25 year olds since this seems to be the age range of the majority of the characters featured within the trailer
I think that a unique selling point of the movie is just the fact that a quite well-known rapper was the person who directed the movie as his debut movie which would appeal to current fans of the rapper as they may be inquisitive to see what a movie from his perspective would be like. Since most of his fans are likely to be around the same age, and perhaps from the same background as him, this fanbase he already has can, in itself, be a selling point because they may feel they can relate to parts of the film and may feel they can identify with him further.
The trailer only seems to have highlighted the negative aspects of the movie - it pieces together all of the similar violent, fight scenes which isn't a true reflection of the movie itself. Although a large portion of the movie is centered around the negative events displayed in the trailer, kindness and compassion is also presented, particularly in the character Aaron, which fails to be displayed within the trailer itself. This therefore shows that the assumed narrative would be all based on violence and gang culture, However, the film itself delves into more of each main character's
The director, known as 'Plan B''s name does appear about a third of the way through the trailer. He is described as a 'visionary artist' here.
The narrator is Plan B, in the form of the lyrics from his song 'Ill Manors' which is the soundtrack to the movie. It is used to accompany the events of the trailer.
5) How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music/dialogue, camera shots/movements/angles and editing?
The film appears to belong to the genre of Drama/Urban Crime.
The costume of most of the character's in the trailer are generally hoodies, tracksuits and snapback caps, and due to the stereotype of 'chavs' and 'thugs' who can not afford the best clothing, they represent urban lifestyle in the streets of London and, therefore, the genre of an urban crime drama.
The setting of the film is based on a council estate in London which shows the characters are allowed demographic class of D and E audiences,
The lighting is mostly dim/bright to show the characters, also to keep the scenes mysteriousas the characters are up to something bad such as the drug use.
The film appears to belong to the genre of Drama/Urban Crime.
The costume of most of the character's in the trailer are generally hoodies, tracksuits and snapback caps, and due to the stereotype of 'chavs' and 'thugs' who can not afford the best clothing, they represent urban lifestyle in the streets of London and, therefore, the genre of an urban crime drama.
The setting of the film is based on a council estate in London which shows the characters are allowed demographic class of D and E audiences,
The lighting is mostly dim/bright to show the characters, also to keep the scenes mysteriousas the characters are up to something bad such as the drug use.
