Text On Screen

This is the first text seen on screen, it appears at 2 seconds. ‘Lionsgate’ is a Canadian production and distribution company. The purpose of showing this is because, when potential audience members watch the trailer for the first time, they may recognise this logo and feel as though, they want to see this film because of previous successes this company has had.

The second text on screen is shown at 4 seconds. ‘Saban Films’ is a North American distribution company.

Furthermore, the text on screen which says ‘Risk It All’ enhances the action genre because of the way it appears on the screen, it is very fast, which is just how the action genre is, fast paced. This enhances the genre as it gives the audience a certain mood and atmosphere.

This text on screen is written in the same way as the previous, and appears on screen in the same manner. The use of the bright yellow colour, that almost looks like fire creates excitement and allows for the audience to be engaged, because it looks attractive. Additionally, the audience are further engaged because of the phrase ‘Run For Your Life’. This creates enigma for the audience as they would want to know WHY they should run for their lives, what is going to happen if they don’t?

One of the final texts on screen is the title of the film ‘TRACERS’. From the two previous texts, we can see that there is an ongoing theme for the way in which the words are written and how they appear. However, all of the texts written the same were just a yellow colour with a hint of orange or red, however, the title has blue strips running across it. This could be so that the audience are either able to, differentiate between the title and just normal text, and or, because it looks more attractive and is likely to grab more attention.

The fact that this text mentions that the film is ‘On Demand’ means that they want to appear to a larger audience. The distributers are clearly aware that not many people like to constantly go to the cinema to spend money, therefore, they have decided to open up this new film to a wider audience so that they are still able to make a profit, because they will still be getting a vast number of views.

The final text on screen of the trailer, is to commemorate the people who participated in the creation of the trailer and film, it is usually the text that is on screen for the shortest amount of time.

SoundAs soon as the trailer begins, we are taken into the middle of a very busy traffic flow. Here we hear the sounds of cars beeping and the sound of the cyclists wheels as he pedals through the road.

As well as hearing those sounds, there is also the sound of an underlying, non-diegetic asynchronous soundtrack. It has a very upbeat, fast paced beat and rhythm, which is correct to the genre. This soundtrack helps to set the mood, tone and atmosphere for the trailer which allows the audience to have an insight into what type of action film it is going to be.

At 27 seconds within the trailer we hear a voice over from the protagonist, he says “where did you learn how to do parkour”. As this line is said, the previous upbeat fast-paced music stops and it creates the feeling of the voice almost being extremely amplified, therefore creating the feeling that this is a key line, and it is as it sums up what the film is about. A group who practice parkour who then end up in dire trouble.

Throughout the trailer most of the dialogue is spoken in a raised voice, shouts, for example “WHATS THE EXIT PLAN?”. The use of the raised voice shows that the characters are feeling quite stressed and anxious, which are feelings and emotions that the audience perhaps are going through if they connect with the characters. The use of the raised voice reinforces the genre as, the scenes within the genre are always tense always fast paced, there is a lot going on, therefore, the characters are not going to speak calmly because of the tension that is built up throughout the progression of scenes.

The action genre is reinforced when we hear the sound of several gun shots. It is a convention of the action genre to have at least some form of weaponry, however, the gun is most common. The sound of the gun creates fear and adrenalin for the audience, as well as uncertainty as this is only a trailer, they don’t know what is happening.

Further to that, the protagonist says “If I can get s a clean exit, will you come with me?”. Within a lot of action films, there is always an underlying love story. From my research it never came up as a convention, however in action films such as: ‘The Pacifier’, ‘Taken’ and ‘Inception’ there is this love story element, and it is also shown within this trailer, both from the dialogue and the image on screen. They are naked and close in proximity.

At 26 seconds, within the trailer, there is a flash cut, where one scene flashes from one into the next. This type of editing gives the illusion of one image amalgamating into the next.

This image shows a developing transitional fade.

Editing

As this is only a trailer, there is no sense of continuity editing. This sort of editing is known as ‘invisible’, as producers aim to make the film seem as though it is continuous and runs on, there have been no cuts.

The editing within this trailer is very fast paced, whereby, once cut moves quickly to the next. From these screen shots, you can see that 4 transitional cuts, took place in a second. This research is useful for my partner and I as we are able to now see what pace our editing needs to be at in order to achieve a conventional action trailer.

In addition to that, there is a fade between two scenes. This is effective because it shows both the development of the protagonists relationship with the two different parties (the woman and their extended group). The fade is useful as it shows

Mise-en-SceneThe action genre is reinforced through various different ways. Firstly through the costume. Within most of the shots we are shown the characters wearing tracksuits or ‘lounge’ wear. Wearing tracksuits within this genre shows that perhaps they are going to be doing a lot of movement or they will perhaps get into fights, therefore, wearing comfortable clothing means that this will be easier for them to move about.

Additionally, another prop that reinforces the action genre is the balaclava. They don’t appear in every action film as not every one contains a robbery scene for example, however they do appear quite frequently. The use of this mask creates enigma as, only watching the trailer as an audience member you wonder if the people behind the masks are characters that you have seen previously in the trailer.

Additionally, another convention of the action genre is that there is always a car chase. This films stays true to that genre as we are shown the aftermath of a fatal car chase. This scene would create excitement for the audience as a collision isn’t something seen on a day to day basis. Furthermore, the fact that the protagonist is so close to the collision would make the audience want to see the finished product as an unanswered questions could stem from: ‘what happened to him?’ ‘Is he dead or alive?’.

As well as a car chase there is also a chase whereby the characters do parkour.

Furthermore, this genre is further reinforced through the props used. A gun is a convention of the action genre, in every action film there is one, as there is always a fight scene that creates the climax of the film.

Camera Work

22 seconds into the trailer, we are unaware of who the mysterious character riding the bike is, as we are only shown either the back of him or his vigorously fast pedalling legs. Eventually at 22 seconds, we are shown an extreme close-up of this character. Here, we can assume that he is the main character as the various different shots allude to this.

The first shot within the trailer is an establishing shot, as it establishes the setting. We are taken into a pacey, upbeat traffic jam race.

At 7 seconds within the trailer, we are introduced to the characters, this shot is known as a master shot, at the same time we also hear dialogue.

Throughout the trailer, we are introduced to this character a number of times, which shows that she is a main character. This character is framed in a low angle shot, which makes her look powerful and of dominance as she says “keep up”, this dialogue reinforces her dominant nature as she is almost seen as a person with all the answers.

There are two shots, where the main protagonist is positioned next to another character. At first glance they appear to be positioned at the same height, however, the protagonist is always a little bit higher in the low angle shot. This shows and differentiates his status from the other characters, as he is higher.