Analyse the effectiveness of the techniques and devices used in film trailers in persuading their target audiences.
Year 10 Media Essay
Analyse the effectiveness of the techniques and devices used in film trailers in persuading their target audiences.
Media is communication. The main purposes of media are to entertain and to inform. Television, newspapers/magazines, adverts and the internet are the most well known forms of media. Trailers are designed to advertise the film, giving a good impression in a small amount of time so that people will either go to see the film, or buy the film, hence making money for the people involved. The trailers chosen were 'Charlie's Angles - Full Throttle' and 'Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines'. They were chosen because they had a large appeal and both used a wide range of presentation techniques. The genres of the trailers contrast, so other elements in the trailers such as target audience and style of presentation would also be different.
The genre of 'Charlie's Angels' is action adventure/comedy. The target audience is mainly females who can either relate to, or admire the characters. It is a 'chick flick' and so would appeal to a teenage/young adult audience. It would also attract a male audience due to its sex appeal. This is perhaps an unusual target audience for this genre of film, but due to the almost superhuman features in the characters it works quite well. In this trailer the characters all wear extremely stylish clothing; the stylishness of the film would appeal to the young female audience because people in this group like to be fashionable. The sex symbolism of the actresses is played on quite a lot in the trailer using scenes of the angels in bikinis, and of the girls dancing in the club at the start to appeal to the male audience.
The genre of 'Terminator 3' is action/sci-fi. The audiences this trailer will attract are sci-fi fans, fans of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and people who have watched and enjoyed the other films in this trilogy. The majority of the audience is the same as the genre of the film - science fiction. I know this because it shows elements usually found in science fiction films such as robots. The fans of Arnold Schwarzenegger would be interested by the trailer because it shows him in a lot of the shots, has his name written boldly across one of the stills, and he is famous for his rolls as the terminator. It shows many exciting parts of the film, showing many explosions, lots of gunfire and a great deal of fighting. This would appeal to the action loving audience. Also, there is a shot of an attractive naked woman walking across the road, which would attract a male audience.
The trailers both use different aspects of the film to advertise it. The 'Charlie's Angels' trailer plays more on humour and sex appeal, for example the 'sorry I broke your stick' scene, whereas 'Terminator 3' uses the plot and the action to attract people. I think the audience for 'Charlie's Angels' is mainly female or young boys, whereas with 'Terminator 3' I think the trailer would appeal to an older audience, possibly more male than female. Both trailers have a certain sex appeal. This shows that a sexual element in films attracts a lot of people.
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The trailers both use different aspects of the film to advertise it. The 'Charlie's Angels' trailer plays more on humour and sex appeal, for example the 'sorry I broke your stick' scene, whereas 'Terminator 3' uses the plot and the action to attract people. I think the audience for 'Charlie's Angels' is mainly female or young boys, whereas with 'Terminator 3' I think the trailer would appeal to an older audience, possibly more male than female. Both trailers have a certain sex appeal. This shows that a sexual element in films attracts a lot of people.
The purpose of all trailers is to advertise the film and attract as large an audience as possible. For 'Charlie's Angels' the purpose is to attract teenagers to watch the film at the cinema. It does this by using specific elements that are in the film, such as comedy scenes or scenes of a sexually appealing nature to attract the largest audience they think they can. By tailoring the trailer to the correct audience they can draw the maximum amount of people to see the film. The techniques and devices used in the trailer such as the splicing technique, and vibrant lighting make the trailer fast moving and interesting. This appeals to the target audience because it reflects their lives, interests and attitudes - fun, interesting and exciting. This attracts the specific audience by making it seem more modern and upbeat.
The purpose of the 'Terminator 3' trailer is to inform the public of when the film is coming out, to attract them to see the film when it comes out, and to create anticipation. Also, it explains the plot to anyone who already wanted to see it. It makes the target audience want to see the film. The trailer has been specially designed to appeal to the target audience, and contains many of the elements you would expect to find in a film of this genre, such as robots and fighting. As with the 'Charlie's Angels' trailer, if the film companies target the audiences they think are most likely to want to watch the film, they can tailor the trailer to what their audience would expect, and want to see. This draws in a larger audience. In the trailer many devices are used to attract this audience. The lighting and soundtrack create suspense, and a tense mood: it also uses sound effects, deception, and many other techniques and devices to 'sell' the film to the public. These all draw the viewer in and help to persuade them to watch the film.
Both trailers have the same purpose however they both use different effects and aspects of the film to achieve this. The 'Charlie's Angels' trailer only tries to attract people to the film, whereas 'Terminator 3' also informs them.
'Charlie's Angels' uses many different techniques to attract viewers. The lighting is bright and clean to make the trailer appear modern, up to date, and stylish. This relates to the audience, in that young people would like a film to seem modern, stylish and trendy as they also like to be stylish and trendy. Many different camera angles and shots are used. This creates variety, and different shots can be used for different purposes. Close-up shots usually focus on one person allowing the viewer to not get distracted, for example the ending scene of Bosley on the beach. Low-angle shots look up from the ground. These are used to make a villain appear more sinister, and in this trailer are used when focusing on the villain in the film when he walks out of prison. At the start and end of the film the shots are spliced together so that they play very quickly fitting a lot of scenes into a few seconds. This makes the film seem busier, faster, and full of action and excitement. The overall pace of the trailer is fast for the same reason. Sound effects are used to add character to the explosions and gunshots. This is to make them louder and more noticeable as well as adding an aspect of surrealism to the trailer. The soundtrack uses upbeat pop/dance songs to add to the club effect. The tracks used are 'my sherona' and 'firestarter'. These appeal to the audience that listens to that type of music. Word play is used to add sexual implications to an otherwise harmless scene. The 'I'm sorry I broke your stick' scene adds humour to the trailer, and teenagers would be attracted by the non-conformist rude humour. The glamour and sex appeal of the girls, as well as the fame of the actresses appeals to a lot of people. Male audiences would be attracted by the sex appeal. If a good actor or actress is in a film, this usually means that the script is good, although this is not always true. Also some people would go to see the film just because a particular actor or actress they like is in it.
'Terminator 3' also uses many different techniques to attract viewers. The lighting is dark and shadowy to make the trailer appear frightening, and it adds an element of danger to the action. As with 'Charlie's Angles' many different camera angles and shots are used. A high-angle shot is used at the very start showing the earth with nuclear missiles and bombs exploding everywhere. This makes the earth seem small and venerable. A low-angle shot is used when Arnold Schwarzenegger's character is lying on the ground and the camera is as if it were looking through his eyes. This makes the villain (the Terminatrix) seem terrifying and unstoppable. At the start of the film the shots are quite long with little splicing and the pace is slow, then the pace quickens and the music changes. This makes the film seem faster, and full of action, adding desperation to the characters' actions. This sudden change takes the viewer by surprise, and is good because the trailer starts slow and serious, and changes suddenly. Sound effects are used in the same way as the 'Charlie's Angles' trailer. The soundtrack uses classical, gothic music to add to the suspense and despair. Sex appeal is a key element in this trailer, with the shot of a naked attractive woman appealing to the male audience. Deception is used by making the audience think that something has happened, for example the main character (John Connor) being killed, or the Terminator failing his mission to make the audience want to watch the film to see what happens. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a very popular, highly paid actor, and people would think that if he was in it then the script is good. People would also go to see the film just to see him in it. The voiceover at the beginning has a serious man who is describing the action and explaining the plot. This specific accent and voice is used because it works with the seriousness of the trailer, and the plot is explained to make the trailer more easily understood, as the plot is quite complex.
Both trailers use a low angle shot for the villain, use sex appeal as a key element, and both use sound effects for explosions and bullets. Also, both trailers have a fast pace, and both use famous actors and actresses. This shows that these elements are popular things to use for trailers. Although the trailers have a lot of similarities, the differences they have are almost opposites. The lighting used in 'Charlie's Angels' is crisp and clean, whereas the lighting used for 'Terminator 3' is dark and shadowy. This is because the genres and target audiences for the films are different. 'Terminator 3' uses a voiceover, but as 'Charlie's Angles' is less serious it doesn't. The types of music used are completely different, to match the gravity of the trailers, although both trailers do use 2 tracks.
In 'Charlie's Angels' the language is modern American slang. The effect this has is that it makes the characters in the trailer feel more like younger people, showing it is a modern film, and attracting the people who would talk like the characters do. Word play is used to bring humour to the trailer, suggesting more than one thing at once. There is a lot of humour used in the trailer, but this is because the genre of the film is comedy.
The language in 'Terminator 3' is more formal and serious. This is because the storyline in the film is more solemn. The trailer uses a serious, well spoken man to reflect the serious theme of the film. The catchphrase used is, 'it is time'. This is short and simple, and therefore easily remembered. It makes the audience wonder what it is time for, or makes them think that something bad is about to happen. This makes them want to know what it is time for. Humour scenes are used to bring entertainment to the audience, and to break up the depth of the film with light lines.
There is a large difference between the two trailers in language, the major difference being the formality. The language in 'Charlie's Angels' is completely informal, whereas in 'Terminator 3' it is very formal. The films both use comedy in their appeal, but for different reasons. I think the difference in the formality of the trailers is due to their chosen theme and audience.
In my opinion the trailer that is the most effective is 'Terminator 3'. The trailer is well constructed, and uses many different effects to draw in an audience. I especially like the start, as the high angle shot of the earth being bombed is attention-grabbing and has excellent graphic quality, showing the high budget of the film. However, both trailers are very effective to the right audience. 'Terminator 3' earned $418.3mill. at the box office, while 'Charlie's Angels' only earned $252.6mill., showing that overall more people went to see 'Terminator 3' at the cinema. This could be due to the success of the trailer, or any other number of advertising strategies. Sex appeal proves to be a very good way of attracting an audience, as it is even used in a serious film such as 'Terminator 3'. In conclusion, 'Terminator 3' has the most effective trailer.
Sarah Kirkham
