Media Assignment- Trailer Analysis
TV drama trailer 1: Narrative and genre
How is narrative and genre communicated quickly and clearly to the audience?
Show title: Chernobyl.
The narrative and genre for Chernobyl is a historical period drama, the narrative of the drama (shown from the drama) is the aftermath of the chernobyl disaster that occurred on the 26th of April 1986. The premise of the show seems to be how the inhabitants of chernobyl and the (then) soviet Union dealt with the disaster; The trailer advertises that the show depicts events that have never been shown before on television. And with most TV shows that have soviet russia as a main force in the show, it appears that soviet russia is shown to be the main antagonist, trying to conceal the true nature of the effect of the chernobyl disaster from the public both nationally and internationally. Other than that there aren't many plot points that have been revealed; which may be a good thing due to the nature of the show, a key point of the trailer and even the show itself is mystery. It’s the idea that this kind of event has never happened before, showing any more plot points would be a bad idea, taking away from that mystery. The narrative (judging from the trailer) is keeping it quite real to what actually happened during the events of the chernobyl incident, this acts as a selling point for the TV show as the audience feel as if they’re being entertained and informed at the same time. A selling point that is quite similar to Deutschland 83
TV drama trailer 2: Mise-en-scene
What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Think CLAMPS.
TV show title: Legion
Legion is a TV show that follows a powerful mutant within the Marvel universe; the mise-un-scene for legion is quite unique as it’s not only very strange, but it changes depending on the personality of the main character adopts. The props in the scenes try stay normal, but they all have an air surreality whether it be due to its colour or its design; the lighting is always quite unique when it comes to the show, it almost acts as a marker for the mental state of the main character, giving a hint to which personality is in control at the time. The mental instability of the main character is obviously also shown by the acting of the main characters in the show, e.g. stages of confusion and mental instability are well translated in the trailer by the main characters acting. Along with that but the makers of the TV show want viewers to understand that the TV show shouldnt be taken completely serious, this can be seen by the out of place cut in the trailer where the main characters and the presumably supporting or other main character are doing a south asian inspired dance that completely opposes the atmosphere and storytelling that was happening minutes prior to the abrupt scene change. The show also tries to make it apparent that the main character is not the same as everyone else in the trailer, this is shown by the body language of the interviewer and main character.
TV drama trailer 3: Camerawork
Here you are looking for particular camera shots and movement. E.g. Are close-ups used to introduce key characters to the audience? How are establishing shots used?
Stranger Things season 3
The stranger things season 3 trailer was put together in a way to both show the brand new horror like aesthetic with the coming of age element of the show, showing growth in the characters. The camera work focuses on this by the angles and distances they choose to use. E.g. in order to show togetherness, the cinematographer chooses to show characters in the same shot at a middle distance, but to show the opposite,a closer shot with the individual singled out to further show his loneliness is quite effective (especially with the shots of dustin and will, two characters who’s loneliness is key to the narrative of the season). Along with this, the new season introduces a brand new location that is integral to the show, Starcourt mall, the location does not have a typical establishing shot where the entire mall is shown, instead a shot of the mall’s neon sign from a lower angle (to give it a menacing atmosphere to it) was used, foreshadowing the true nature of the location. The only other scene in the trailer that features that location is the show where almost all the main characters are looking at an ominous figure (which is hidden from the audience) from a low angle, further trying to push the ominous image the creators are trying to push.
TV drama trailer 4: Editing
Analyse pace, transitions, number of shots and juxtaposition e.g. eyeline matches. Does the pace speed up towards the end of the trailer?
Show title: The boys
A comedic superhero drama with a dark sense of humor, the trailer portrays that idea with the editing they chose. The most apparent aspect of the trailer is the use of fast paced editing to not only portray the action of the show, but to also make the comedic aspects of the show to hit harder, cutting from scene to scene at the right points to help punchlines sell harder. The pace of the editing is also suitable for the premise of the show and the genres it follows; while there are a few shots that are longer than others in the trailer (one of them being the shot of one of the main characters having their main love interest die in front of their eyes, a use of slow mo to further translate what just happened) a large majority of the shots in the trailer are quick, jumping from action to action or comedy to comedy, something that is a convention for not only shows of those genres but TV dramas in general, the fast paced editing is done purposefully to ensure that the viewers maintain their focus. The trailer also resembles an editing style that is very reminiscent of modern day superhero TV shows and films; possibly hinting to parody of superhero conventions or at least a pastiche. The colour grading of The Boys is also very reminiscent to the colour grading director Zach Snyder implemented on the DC superhero films he directed (The fact that the hero villains from the TV show are also a clear copy of DC’s Justice League.
TV drama trailer 5: Sound
Analyse both diegetic and non-diegetic sound - music, dialogue, voiceover, SFX, background or foley sound etc.
Title: American Gods Season 2
Having seen the show, sound place and integral part in both storytelling and aesthetic effect; starting with the music first, the music directly plays into the american/god focal point the show, acting as a direct play on the shows content (American on the sound nature of the song, god being the lyrics). Some quotes from the song that would play off the shows content include “god are you getting my letters” symbolising the relationship between the gods and people, another example would be “I can’t believe in you” directly acknowledging the currency like value gods have towards belief and faith. The dialogue of the trailer is enigmatic (enigma code) e.g. “wars coming shadow, and I have a big role for you” intrigues us to understand what’s going to happen in the war and to shadow. Sound in general plays a large part in the show, and that can be seen in the trailer with the high attention to detail the trailer gives to even the smallest movements, e.g. the mechanical shots of the scene are clearly important, and so small intrical sounds are given to each movement, not only emphasizing its importance but also showing the extent to which the shows creators and foley artists are going to sound realistic. When looking at the SFX, American gods follows a typical convention of adding impact noises to certain movements to help sell the power of that movement such movements could be a punch, slamming of a hand or even a look e.g. a flick and slamming of a hand in the trailer are followed by slams, this is done to sell impact
TV drama trailer 6: Trailer conventions, graphics, text-on-screen etc.
Here you need to explore trailer conventions - what does this trailer have that you've spotted in all the trailers you have analysed so far? Look for things like text on screen, graphics, title, release date, social media links and more.
Title: The Preacher Season1
Conventions of trailers have changed over time, The Preacher follows conventions of a modern TV show. The first two clear examples would be the network airing the show being shown in the very beginning of the trailer (After the fade in), after that AMC’s logo can be seen on the bottom right of the trailer throughout, after this though the amount of graphics reduce significantly only again re appearing near the end and at the very end; one would be the possible title sequence of the show, showing a church upside down under a sky that looks like is on fire, instinctively given the nature of the name and the imagery, it would be safe to assume that the show is most likely about an unholy preacher and his adventures; the upside down cross (stereotypical image for satanic activity and the sky that seems to be on fire looks like hell; both being an oxymoron for a priest. At the very end the release date, name of the channel airing the show and a social media tag are shown along with the link to the show’s website are shown to the audience, the reason as to why is quite self explanatory, they all act as a means of advertising the show, the social media tags offering a direct connection to the show and the name of the company acting as a symbol of quality assurance (watchers of the walking dead, another show by AMC, would compare that to the preacher)
Comments
Post a Comment