Textual Analysis – Black Mass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_F-lVhSfx8

Screenshots of opening scenes:

The opening scenes involve really distinctive camera shots. The director opens the trailer with a close up of the old fashioned tape recorder which looks really effective. It then proceeds to a close up of two men, one interviewing the other, it is clear through the dialogue who is in control of the interview, however, the camera switches to the exact same position but of the other person which is really effective as it’s not quite clear who is in control. In addition to this, the director doesn’t use a soundtrack in the opening scenes which is quite unconventional in film trailers, it’s an effective way to open the trailer as it lets the audience focus more on the expressions of the characters and also the dialogue that’s occurring in the trailer. The director then uses a establishing shot to set the scene of the film and show the audience where the setting is. It would be easy to recreate this because I live near a city where I believe this type of shot would look really effective. The trailer also uses graphics with the text ‘BASED ON A TRUE STORY’ this adds validity with the trailer, the director has chosen to put this in the start of the trailer in order to grab the audiences attention and to create a sense of suspicion.

Screenshots of different camera shots:

The technique that I like most in this trailer is how the director has decided to use short footage of different scenes in the trailer. I think this would be beneficial to recreate because my skills aren't that developed yet so using short footage would help me make the trailer look more professional. This trailer usually shows most clips at about 1 or 2 seconds so therefore it doesn't’t allow the audience to focus to thoroughly on each clip it just gives them a short glimpse of it, which what I’m going to try and recreate with my trailer. I screenshotted the various different camera shots which I found appealing. One being a close up the main characters face as he’s doing sit ups. I liked this camera shot because it shows the expression of the main character face on and he’s looking right into the camera which looks really effective. In addition, the colour is really dull and negative which indicates the narrative as it’s about a kingpin's antics in LA. In addition to this, I also like how the director has chosen to use both scenes where it’s dark and light. It gives the trailer a nice contrast and shows all aspects of the film which is really effective.