Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 Thriller/drama directed by Sean Durkin. Before entering the site, an image of the protagonist appears, within the letter M. Representing all the alias' she portrays in the film. Below the image the names of the main cast are listed, This is used so the audience can see who is in the film. We want to include this within our website. On top of the image, reviews flash up, giving the audience a hint of what the film is about, and what critics think of it. This will persuade the audience to go and see the film. We are planning to use this for our film website.
As you enter the site, the background changes to black, which creates a sense of mystery and suspense, conforming to the Psychological Thriller genre. The white stars on the black background, move into pictures of the Antagonist, further connoting a sense of suspense to the audience. The white stars also spell out the themes explored within the film, such as "Possession" giving the audience an idea of what happens in the film.
The user is able to click on certain parts of the image, which leads them to another picture, which was likely used in the film. The image is shown to be slightly distorted, conforming to the Psychological Thriller genre, as the audience is not given all the information of the plot. At the top of the page, the website has a sidebar, linking to two social media websites, Facebook, and Twitter, therefore appealing to a wide range of audiences.
After finishing the first draft of our Teaser Trailer, the feedback we received said that our beginning montage was too long, providing an unclear narrative as it seemed more like a film opening rather than a Teaser Trailer. It would have therefore confused the audience, as they may not have been able to clearly identify the genre of out piece.
We therefore decided to cut down the montage at the beginning of our trailer. We only used three scenes, all with the protagonist with her back to the camera. The feedback from our changed montage scene was more positive due to the shorter length, and the fact that it provided a clearer narrative for the audience, as the transition to the party scene in our trailer works better.
To make this transition work, along with cutting down the beginning montage, we also added the non-diegetic sound of an alarm clock, which increases in volume and tempo to mirror a heart monitor, which provides a clear transition to the next scene, which is the POV of the protagonist the party.
We decided to use some techniques and ideas from our inspirations post at the start of the year, however after carefully planning our shot list, and experimenting with some shots we thought would work effectively, we found out that some of our ideas would not be suitable for our Teaser Trailer.
An example of this is the Dolly Zoom we were planning to use when our protagonist first takes the drug.After filming this scene using this particular effect, we found as we watched it back it looked too comical. We therefore decided to change this shot to a close-up of the protagonist. We found this worked better as the audience was clearly able to see the characters emotions, showing the effect the drug had on her, which provided a very clear narrative, unlike the Dolly Zoom.
Another example of this is where we decided against using dramatic music for the main part of our trailer, which we originally attended to do. We decided instead to use a remix of a popular pop song (Pumped Up Kicks) as we felt as though it paralleled what was going on screen very well, as it conveyed the disorientation the protagonist was feeling at the party, and the negative effects of the drug it had on her later in the trailer. We felt that the use of dramatic music throughout our trailer would not make the genre as clear, as it would make it seem like more of a horror. On top of this, as our Teaser Trailer has some social realist aspects in it, the use of using a pop song conforms to this type of genre.
We also did use some techniques and ideas from our inspirations list. An example of this is where we used red tints/lighting within our Teaser Trailer as the colour red can connote a sense of danger that a character may face, conforming to the idea about the dangers of drugs. It also conformed to our genre.
We also used Graphic Matching within our Teaser Trailer, as we found it looked very effective within our Teaser Trailer.We used graphic matching for a montage scene to demonstrate the normality of the protagonists life, which contrasted with the shot towards the end of the trailer where we used a handheld shot of her running down the street showing her descent into chaos.
Finally we also used Close Up Shots in our Teaser Trailer as it conforms to the Psychological Thriller genre building tension, as the audience can see the Characters Facial expressions clearly. Close-Up Shots can also draw importance to different objects or characters, so the audience is able to focus on them. This worked well in our Teaser Trailer as we were able to use close-up shots of the characters face whilst at the party, and after she takes the drug, to portray the audience the negative effects of the drugs.
This was the first official poster released for the film directed by Johnathan Demme, when it came in 1991.
The poster shows the protagonists (Jodie Foster's) face with a butterfly covering her mouth. Her eyes, usually blue are red. The faux skull markings on the moths head, show that the skulls are made up of 7 naked women, which is believed to be homage to Salvador Dali.
The poster shows a contrast of light and dark; the protagonists face being white, and the background around he fading to black. This use of colour suggests the presence of both good and evil in the film. This use of colouring conforms to the Psychological Thriller genre. On top of this, the use of the deaths-head Hawkmoth across the protagonists mouth, and the high contrast of her face matches the dark tone of the film, allowing the audience to immediately be aware of the genre.
The title "The Silence of the Lambs" is interpreted in visual form on the poster. The Protagonist is displayed to represent the lamb, and the high key lighting of her face connote some sort of innocence about the character.The moth across her mouth represents her being silenced. The red colouring of her eyes, and the dark colouring of the moth could represent the danger she will face in the film, as well as adding to the mysterious and sinister atmosphere of the poster.
The film is shown to challenge the classic thriller conventions by having a female protagonist, which is the only character displayed on the poster. This can be considered unusual for the Psychological Thriller genre, as the protagonists are usually all male. By challenging these conventions the poster could potentially appeal to a wider audience.
The use of the typography in the red font is used to connote the danger the protagonist will face in the film. The colour also conforms to the Psychological Thriller genre.
Laura Mulvey coined the term "Male gaze" in 1975. She believes that in film, audiences have to view a character from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The Male gaze consists of three different Gazes.
1. That of the person behind the camera
2. That of the characters within the representation or film.
3. The Gaze of the spectator.
The man man emerges as the dominant power within the film. The woman is portrayed as passive to the active gaze from the man. John Berger:
"Men look, Women appear"- He suggested that women are there solely for objectification of men within all platforms of the media. We are subverting this stereotype in our film trailer, as the protagonist does not appear in the film to look "attractive" as we are not focussing on the looks of the character, but her actions instead.
Jib Fowles:
"In advertising, males gaze and females are gazed at"
The Carol Clover Theory:
In slasher movies, the killer is finally stopped by a character who Clover (1992) calls the "Final Girl". The " Final Girl" is always a pure innocent girl who abstains from sex. She sometimes has a unisex name (e.g. Laurie, Sidney.) Occassionally the Final Girl will have shared a history with the killer. Sidney Prescott from the horror film Scream, is a common example of Clovers theory.
In our film trailer, we chose to subvert gender theories because we didn't want to comply with the audiences expectations. In our film opening, the girl shown to be the dominant character, subverting the "Male Gaze Theory" (Laura Mulvey) who suggested that the man emerges as the dominant power within the film. However she could be viewed as the perfect "English Rose". the term "English Rose" is a description associated with English Culture, that may be applied to a naturally attractive woman or girl traditionally with a fair complexion who is from or associated with England. The description has a cultural reference to the national flower of England, the rose, and its long tradition within English symbolism.
One thing that we believe makes our trailer stand out is the use of creative filming techniques. The theme of distortion is prominent in our trailer and film package so we wanted to portray this in the way we filmed. It is easier to distort footage in the post-production stage but it is more of a challenge to shoot creatively.
Many of our most creative shots were filmed using the Go-Pro. This added creativity as we were able to film from unconventional angles. An example of this is when we filmed underwater of our protagonist screaming. For this shot, we really didn't want to shoot it from outside of the bath, because we wanted the reason for her being in this situation, to be unclear- leaving the audience with unanswered questions. We felt the best shot would be a close up of her face as it perfectly demonstrates her strong emotions and mental deterioration.
We also attached the GoPro to the bottom of the glass bottle as the protagonist drinks from it. This creates a dark, distorted effect that symbolises the consequences of drugs and alcohol.
We were inspired to use the Go Pro to film some of our shots by Edgar Wright, who typically makes comedy films. His films often contain montages, like the one in the beginning of our trailer, and his shots are filmed in unconventional ways.
Another tool we used to shoot creative shots was through the use of a fish eye lens. For the party scenes, we wanted shots that were distorted- once again to give the effect of someone who is under the influence of drugs.
The lighting also helps to create the distorted effect, as it is multi coloured. The lights were placed on the ground, so dark shadows were cast around the ceiling, giving the seemingly fun and innocent party, an underlying sinister ambience.
The house we are filming at is purposefully modern but basic- we want to create the atmosphere of a completely normal teenage girl's life. This will completely contrast the shots later on in the trailer, in which she has become addicted to the drug and this will be reflected by her surroundings. The contrast between the pale walls and the black floor show the opposite ends of her character, before and after she becomes addicted to drugs.
The trailer starts with an establishing shot of an empty living room with the television on. Low key lighting is used, conveying a sense of uneasiness to the audience. This is followed by a split screen shot of a woman sorting her pills. There is a close-up pan of the different coloured pills on the table, indicating that the pills are a central part to the plot of the film. This further shown through the repetition of the voiceover used at the end of the trailer by the woman sorting the pills, where she says" Purple in the morning, Blue in the afternoon, and orange is the evening." This suggests the woman may be addicted to these pills, again conveying addiction as one of the central themes of the film.
There are a variety of different camera angles and movement throughout the trailer. A fish eye is used in one of the scenes shown. This may be used to create a sense of disorientation for the audience, as well as a sense of uneasiness felt by the characters. Close-up shots are used frequently throughout the trailer, also creating the same effect.
There is a close up of one of the characters in a nightclub, and another close-up of the lips of someone smoking, again conveying the theme of drugs to the audience. This is further shown through the close-up of an eye where the pupil grows bigger. This allows the audience to see the effect of a drug on the character. These types of shots allow the audience to see what is happening in a very creative way. This can also be seen in the shot of the orange, where it disappears in the next shot to show passing of time. Another shot showing this, is when one of the characters is walking down the street, whilst other people pass her in fast motion. This adds a sense of confusion for audience, linking to the conventions of a psychological thriller.
Fast paced editing is used in the trailer to show the variety of locations, as well as not giving too much away in what is happening in the trailer, as the genre of Requiem for a Dream is a psychological thriller, therefore not giving enough information to the audience in order for them to completely understand what is happening.
In Psychological thrillers, low-key lighting and shadows are normally used. They add tension into a scene, and in some cases, are used to represent the inner darkness within a character. Sometimes, red lighting, or white lighting is used to create a sense of disorientation and to portray a characters mood.
Setting: The setting of a psychological thriller is commonly used to portray and outline a characters life, through where they live, the things they own and what their lifestyle is like before they meet a series of unfortunate events, which will haunt them psychologically. Psychological thrillers are usually set in an urban area, or a house.
Costumes: In psychological thrillers, the protagonist usually wears something that draws the attention of the audience making them stand out from the other characters. The protagonist is usually wearing brightly coloured clothing, juxtaposing the Antagonist who would stereotypically wear dark, black clothing representing suspicion etc. The antagonist also usually wears smart clothing e..g. A suit or a shirt and jeans. Costumes usually match the location of the film, e.g. in a built up area the character would be wearing a suit and tie.
Here is the mood board that covers the topic of Mise en scene in our teaser trailer. We have chosen to focus on red lighting for our teaser trailer, so we can convey the disorientation and confusion of the protagonist when she takes the drug. We want our trailer to have a variety of different locations, however it will mainly take place in her house. After she takes the drug, her personality will change and we want to convey that by using “dark” locations such as an alleyway or a dark corridor etc. We will also use low-key lighting for this to represent the darkness of the character. We decided that our protagonist would wear “normal teenage clothing” to fit with the conventions of the genre. She will wear a suit in the school location as it matches the location, this is conforming tot he costume stereotype in Psychological thrillers. Once she has taken the drug we are going to change her clothing to darker colours, similar to typical Antagonists in psychological thrillers. This subverts the stereotype of typical costumes in psychological thrillers. We decided to do this to convey to the audience that she is her own worst enemy, exploring the theme of split personalities, and that she is essentially battling with herself.
In Psychological Thrillers, the behaviour of characters usually represent psychology, as the characters often battle their own minds, e.g. trying to determine what is real, or who they actually are.
Typical Characters in psychological thrillers include:
Characters with Dark pasts- Silence Of The Lambs
Psychotic Individuals- The Shining
Menaced Women-Sleeping With The Enemies
Innocent Victims-Hear No Evil, See No Evil
The Characters psychological state is the driving force of the plot line, and often there is a first person narrative allowing the viewer to better understand the characters psychological state of mind.
Typical Characters in Psychological Thrillers:
Here is the mood board that covers the topic of Characterisation in our teaser trailer. We want to focus on the transition of our character from before he takes the drug, to after he takes the drug. We therefore collected photos of TV and Film "villains" as well as "heroic" and "anti heroic" characters for our mood board, to portray the change in personality our protagonist will face in our teaser trailer. We focused on the character Bradley Cooper plays in the Film "Limitless" and his character change after he takes the drug, as it is a similar transition. This shown through the image on the mood board of a close-up of him holding the drug in his hand, and the image to left where he has blood over his clothes. Originally we wanted our protagonist to be a male, so we focused on looking at male characters when creating the mood board, however, after creating a survey, and asking people what gender they would want the protagonist to be, the majority chose female, so we decided to change the gender of the character. It is stereotypical of Psychological Thrillers to cast a male protagonist so we have decided to subvert this. It will challenge the audience's expectations and this is one of the criteria a film of this genre should conform to.
We decided we wanted a party scene in our teaser trailer. We therefore decided to use a hall in order to film the party scene. The Images below show the exterior and interior of the hall we are planning to use when filming our party. We decided that the hall would be suitable due to its simplicity- which we hope will be much more effective when we add strobe lighting. We also liked its exterior, as the location of the hall is by the woods, and surrounded by trees, giving it an unnerving feel, which we would like to portray in our trailer.
This is the exterior of our location for the party scene. We will be using strobe lighting at the party, so there will be the opportunity to get some good shots of the lighting through the windows on the outside.
We also decided we wanted to film along a road/alley, so we took some pictures of potential locations where we will film these scenes. We liked the effect of the street lights as it creates an eerie atmosphere. We will potentially use this location in the scenes after our protagonist takes the drug, due to the dark and creepy atmosphere that it creates, which will reflect our protagonist.
The first shot of the trailer is a tracking shot of the protagonist with his daughter, outside by his house. This is followed by close-ups and mid shots of his wife, daughter and his two friends and their daughter in the house, with the diegetic sounds of them laughing and talking to each other. This displays a sense of equilibrium to the audience, but also conveying a sense of tension, due to the film trailer being a Psychological Thriller, therefore leaving them wondering to what will happen to these two families, which would likely make them want to continue to watch the trailer.
As the two young girls leave the house, the music changes to a fast-paced drum sound, followed by quick, straight cuts of the girls, followed by a medium shot of a trailer, this is used to build up the tension, as the audience will be aware that something will happen to the children, but are unsure of what. The ambiguity of what happened to the girls is continued throughout the whole trailer, in order to not give away any of the plot, a convention of the films genre, and of a trailer.
This is followed by a close-up of a man holding an item which may have belonged to one of the girls, suggesting to the audience the importance of the object, as well as giving them clues on who took the girls, which may lead them to watch the film. There is a series of straight cuts between the two worried families and an extreme close-up of shots of someone drawing on a piece of paper. The shot is such an extreme close-up that the image seems distorted to the audience. This creates a sense of ambiguity, leading the audience to wonder what it actually is, or what it represents. The shot of the chalk being drawn on the piece of paper is repeated throughout the trailer, becoming clear to the audience that the person with the chalk is drawing a map, which could potentially represent where the abducted girls are. By giving these small clues to the audience, the trailer is able to draw them in, as they are more likely to watch it.
As the trailer progresses, the protagonist is displayed to lose control of his emotions, as he shown through a variety of close-up shots to lose his temper. Towards the end of the trailer, when confronting a potential suspect, he is displayed a
t a low angle, making him look, powerful and threatening to the audience. This may lead the audience to question if his intentions are actually valid, or if he to is hiding something, adding to the mystery of the trailer.
The last shot of the trailer shows an injured man peering out a wardrobe where he is locked in. The background is black, and conceals most of his face apart from his eye. It is clear to the audience through the blood on his face that he is injured. The diegetic sound of the protagonist screaming at him for his daughter, builds up the tension, and also leaves the audience wondering why and how the protagonist has locked him in a wardrobe. This shot therefore conforms to the conventions of a Psychological Thriller Trailer as it leaves a sense of ambiguity, which may persuade the audience to view the full film.
The Trailer starts with the voiceover of the Protagonist, telling the story of the Black Swan, and effectively revealing the entire plot of the film, despite the audience being unaware of this. The voiceover is synchronous to what is happening on screen, as there is a medium shot of the protagonist dancing before the screen goes black, as the voiceover ends.
Non-Diegetic orchestral music is played throughout the trailer and increases in pace and volume, building up tension, making the audience feel apprehensive as to what happens next, thus creating narrative enigma. The music also fits the genre of the film, which is a psychological thriller.
As the music increases in volume, the pace of the editing increases, as well as the diegetic sounds of conversations, which develop into a more intense tone. This all adds to the overall theme of the film, conveying to the audience that it is very dark. This is further complimented by the choice in colours and lighting, mostly being Black and White. The juxtoposition of the two colours portrays the battle between good and evil, or insanity and sanity which the protagonist faces in the film. Low key lighting is used to also convey this theme.
A variety of locations can be seen from the trailer, through the use of fast paced editing. There are a variation of close-ups of the protagonists face, displaying her emotions, as well as various repeated shots of her seeing herself walk past her in the trailer. This adds to the confusion being portrayed to the audience, raising questions which is a convention the psychological thriller genre. This can be also seen of the medium shot of the Protagonist facing away from the mirror as the audience sees her reflection move to face the direction of the camera. The use of fast paced editing, and only showing the different shots for a couple of seconds amplifies the confusion for the audience, as they are not fully able to understand what is happening, adding to the purpose of the trailer, which is to leave the audience wanting more, so they go to watch the film.
The final scene of the trailer shows an extreme close-up of the protagonist, with focus on her eyes, which are red, connoting evil, and therefore displaying a resemblance to the devil, which juxtaposes the scene at the start of the trailer, where the Protagonist is wearing white. The trailer therefore presents the progression of the downfall of the protagonist to the audience, which could represent the characters change from sanity to insanity, or theoretically, the white swan to the black swan.
‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ trailer
can be considered successful due to its effectiveness and the impact it has on
its audience. The trailer creates an enigma, as it reveals very little of the plot,
thus drawing the audience in.This
convention is presented through the profusion of different locations viewed in
the trailer, displayed through the use of fast cutting, as it allows the
audience to see a variety of different sequences in the film, but the sequences
being too short for the audience to know exactly what is happening.
The trailer can also be considered
successful due to the suspense it creates through the use of the non-diegetic
soundtrack, which is used throughout. The soundtrack used is very upbeat, fast
and dramatic, and is synchronous to the editing. This adds to the overall
suspense and tension of the trailer because it makes it seem more fast-paced,
and makes the audience wonder what will happen next. The heavy metal soundtrack
used also allows the audience to recognize the genre of the film, as the song
combined with the fast paced editing, connotes mystery and ambiguity.
A Point Of View shot is used at the
beginning of the trailer as the camera moves around the corner displaying an
extreme long shot of the road covered in snow. This type of shot can be considered effective
as it allows the audience to see exactly what the character is seeing from
their POV, as well as highlighting the importance of the snow covered road, and
the building at the end of the road. This is further conveyed through the use
of editing and the shots used, as throughout the trailer, the camera shots are
getting closer and closer towards the building, despite all the other shots in
the trailer being anachronic, as they are not in chronological order. This
makes the audience question why the building, and the road towards the building
is being repeatedly shown in the trailer, and why it is significant, therefore
creating enigma, meaning the audience will want to watch the film, thus making
it a successful trailer.
There are a variety of contrasting shots
used in the trailer. For example the snow-covered road, where the predominant
colour is white, is juxtaposed by the car chase scene where the predominant colour
is black. This gives the film trailer a very dark appearance, displaying the
genre of the film. The colours also match the typography of the trailer, as the
writing is white on a black background. The font used may be seen by the
audience to be mysterious, as the typography has ‘scratches’ or ‘cracks’ on the
letters, which can connote, pain or suffering, also matching the genre of the
film, which is a mystery, thriller.
Here are a list of inspirations we had for our Teaser Trailer:
Camera shots/angles:
Lateral Tracking Shot
Dolly Zoom-This is achieved by zooming a zoom lens to adjust the angle of view, while the camera moves towards or away of the object, to keep it the same size throughout. We are planning to use this in our Teaser Trailer as dolly Zooms create an unsettling effect, as it undermines normal visual perception. This would conform to our genre.
Dutch Angles- Where the camera is set at an angle on its roll axis, so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame. It is used for uneasiness/disorientation- We are planning to use a dutch angle in our Teaser Trailer as we want to create a sense of uneasiness and disorientation in our trailer as our genre is a psychological thriller.
Close Up Shots-We are also planning on using Close Up Shots in our Teaser Trailer as we feel like the use of close-Up Shots, especially in Psychological Thrillers build tension, as the audience can see the Characters Facial expressions clearly. Close-Up Shots can also draw importance to different objects or characters, so the audience is able to focus on them.
Behind the Windscreen shot in Taxi Driver (blurry)
We liked the the shot in the Opening Sequence of Taxi Driver, where the camera is behind the Windscreen. We felt as though its adds a sense of disorientation to the shot and for the audience. Due to our Teaser Trailer being based around the theme of drugs, we feel as though this type of shot being used in our Teaser Trailer, would help us convey our genre to our target audience more clearly.
Lighting:
Contrasts in Lighting (Chiaroscuro) This is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It can be used as a metaphor for certain characters inner personality. We feel as this type of lighting would help us convey the two different personalities for our protagonist before and after she takes the drug, displaying clearly to the audience, the effect the drug has had on her.
Red Tints- We are planning on using Red tints within our Teaser Trailer as the colour red can connote a sense of danger that a character may face, conforming to our idea about the dangers of drugs. We feel as though Red Tints will also conform to the Psychological Thriller due to this.
Editing:
Graphic Matching- A cut in film editing, between either two objects, or two different compositions in which objects int he two shots graphically match, often establishing a clear continuity of action. We plan on using graphic matching for a montage scene that we are planning to do at the start of our Teaser Trailer.
Sound:
Use of Silence-This will build up tension for the audience, as silence is often used before a jump scare.
Use of dramatic music-Tis will build up the tension of the events that is happening on screen.
A camera is mounted on a platform and moved along the rails.
The Lateral Tracking shot is described in the video to be one of the least subjective shots in cinema. It can be considered one of the most objective shots as it doesn't suggest any characters POV, and is very literal. It is one of the most widely used shots in cinema and is mainly used by filmmakers as an establishing move.The Lateral Tracking Shot continually preserves the depth of space that the camera captures, since it works with a lens of a fixed focal length. This results in a ,“gliding effect” in which the camera seems to float close to ground.
It is particularly effective in the film 'Wolf Children', where it lasts 57 seconds following the children as they grow up from first grade to fourth grade without any cuts'. In 'Saving Private Ryan' a lateral tracking shot is used to establish a war camp. This can be seen as very effective as it is able to show the vastness of the army. The lateral tracking shot can also be used for a variety of other things such as running, (used in The 400 blows), fighting (used in Old Boy) and comedy ( used in Toy story.) In the film 'The Shining' The narrator describes the lateral shot to be used to build a sense of dread, as it is used frequently throughout the film. Overall this shot can be considered very effective due to the vast amount of ways it can be used in, and the simplicity of the shot. We are planning to use a lateral tracking shot in our Teaser Trailer as it is simple shot to do, and it can be used effectively in a variety of ways.
A teaser trailer is usually between 30 seconds and a minute and a half long. It shows you a basic outline of what the film could be about, giving the audience a brief insight leaving them wanting more. A teaser trailer is often made while the film or TV show is still in production or being edited. It may also contain scenes that are not actually in the final product, as some scenes may be cut when editing.
Most teaser trailers are released up to a year and a half before the film comes out, hence why they are called teaser trailers. Most contain either once short sequence of clips or just one clip in them, and they tend to focus on the characters in the film or show rather than the plot. The pace of a teaser trailer is usually fast, or speeds up as the trailer progresses.
Teaser Trailers make you aware of a new film that is still being edited or produced. Some Teaser Trailer, such as Trainspotting (1996) show just the first ideas of what they want to produce for the real film- and not necessarily what they will produce when it comes to that stage, as they may decide in the editing that they don't want to include that particular scene which we have already seen.
We therefore decided to cut down the montage at the beginning of our trailer. We only used three scenes, all with the protagonist with her back to the camera. The feedback from our changed montage scene was more positive due to the shorter length, and the fact that it provided a clearer narrative for the audience, as the transition to the party scene in our trailer works better.
We also did use some techniques and ideas from our inspirations list. An example of this is where we used red tints/lighting within our Teaser Trailer as the colour red can connote a sense of danger that a character may face, conforming to the idea about the dangers of drugs. It also conformed to our genre.
Laura Mulvey coined the term "Male gaze" in 1975. She believes that in film, audiences have to view a character from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The Male gaze consists of three different Gazes.
In slasher movies, the killer is finally stopped by a character who Clover (1992) calls the "Final Girl". The " Final Girl" is always a pure innocent girl who abstains from sex. She sometimes has a unisex name (e.g. Laurie, Sidney.) Occassionally the Final Girl will have shared a history with the killer. Sidney Prescott from the horror film Scream, is a common example of Clovers theory.
The trailer starts with an establishing shot of an empty living room with the television on. Low key lighting is used, conveying a sense of uneasiness to the audience. This is followed by a split screen shot of a woman sorting her pills. There is a close-up pan of the different coloured pills on the table, indicating that the pills are a central part to the plot of the film. This further shown through the repetition of the voiceover used at the end of the trailer by the woman sorting the pills, where she says" Purple in the morning, Blue in the afternoon, and orange is the evening." This suggests the woman may be addicted to these pills, again conveying addiction as one of the central themes of the film. 
There are a variety of different camera angles and movement throughout the trailer. A fish eye is used in one of the scenes shown. This may be used to create a sense of disorientation for the audience, as well as a sense of uneasiness felt by the characters. Close-up shots are used frequently throughout the trailer, also creating the same effect.
The first shot of the trailer is a tracking shot of the protagonist with his daughter, outside by his house. This is followed by close-ups and mid shots of his wife, daughter and his two friends and their daughter in the house, with the diegetic sounds of them laughing and talking to each other. This displays a sense of equilibrium to the audience, but also conveying a sense of tension, due to the film trailer being a Psychological Thriller, therefore leaving them wondering to what will happen to these two families, which would likely make them want to continue to watch the trailer. 
This is followed by a close-up of a man holding an item which may have belonged to one of the girls, suggesting to the audience the importance of the object, as well as giving them clues on who took the girls, which may lead them to watch the film. There is a series of straight cuts between the two worried families and an extreme close-up of shots of someone drawing on a piece of paper. The shot is such an extreme close-up that the image seems distorted to the audience. This creates a sense of ambiguity, leading the audience to wonder what it actually is, or what it represents. The shot of the chalk being drawn on the piece of paper is repeated throughout the trailer, becoming clear to the audience that the person with the chalk is drawing a map, which could potentially represent where the abducted girls are. By giving these small clues to the audience, the trailer is able to draw them in, as they are more likely to watch it.
The last shot of the trailer shows an injured man peering out a wardrobe where he is locked in. The background is black, and conceals most of his face apart from his eye. It is clear to the audience through the blood on his face that he is injured. The diegetic sound of the protagonist screaming at him for his daughter, builds up the tension, and also leaves the audience wondering why and how the protagonist has locked him in a wardrobe. This shot therefore conforms to the conventions of a Psychological Thriller Trailer as it leaves a sense of ambiguity, which may persuade the audience to view the full film.
‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ trailer
can be considered successful due to its effectiveness and the impact it has on
its audience. The trailer creates an enigma, as it reveals very little of the plot,
thus drawing the audience in. This
convention is presented through the profusion of different locations viewed in
the trailer, displayed through the use of fast cutting, as it allows the
audience to see a variety of different sequences in the film, but the sequences
being too short for the audience to know exactly what is happening.
We liked the the shot in the Opening Sequence of Taxi Driver, where the camera is behind the Windscreen. We felt as though its adds a sense of disorientation to the shot and for the audience. Due to our Teaser Trailer being based around the theme of drugs, we feel as though this type of shot being used in our Teaser Trailer, would help us convey our genre to our target audience more clearly. 
