Pulp Fiction is essentially a crime drama film, but is noted for its unique blend of black comedy, neo-noir and crime. The purpose of the film trailer is to advertise what the film is about to audiences and why they should see it. Beginning with a quaint piano introduction, as if to connote another typical "artsy" film trailer, an introduction giving information on the film's success and reception at the Cannes Film Festival is played - however, all of a sudden gun shots burst through the text and interrupt the calm elevator-like piano music. The trailer then starts to play Pulp Fiction's famous theme music, while clips from the film are shown in short and fast takes, making the audience feel excited and draws them in.
As far as content goes, there are many significant takes and cuts from the film that help establish the types of characters and situations the characters get into. There isn't a particular straight-forward narrative involved in the trailer, as the film itself is merely a non-linear collection of events that take place in generally the same location where the characters are linked somehow, but some of the obstacles and happenings within the motion picture are denoted due to some of the characters' dialogue - an example is included near the beginning of the trailer when we hear John Travolta telling Samuel L. Jackson about how he is supposed to "take care" of his bosses wife while he's gone.
Many elements in the trailer are used to shape meaning in the trailer also.
Captions are also used throughout the trailer to express the themes connoted within the film, such as "LOYALTY" when Travolta is faced with a dilemma being that he becomes attracted to his boss's wife on the night out, and "BETRAYAL" when boxer Butch (Bruce Willis) breaks an agreement with the same crime boss and is on the run.
The trailer makes the film have an expansive look in terms of location and scenes, increasing the mise-en-scene of the film, with many takes throughout the movie played to match each character, and has scenes filled with clever and humorous dialogue towards the end of the trailer, to create comic relief and show the film's black comedy elements.
The soundtrack of the film changes to suit what feeling they want the target audience to have. For example, when the scenes featuring Uma Thurman and John Travolta are played, the song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" by Neil Diamond (also featured on the actual motion picture) plays to give the audience the feeling of romance and helps connote John Travolta fighting his urges with Thurman. This changes when Bruce Willis' story comes into play with "Betrayal", where Bruce has wronged Marcellus, and the music is changed to the song "Out of Limits" by The Marketts, featuring a sinister-sounding bassline that makes the audience feel something bad is about to happen, when suddenly, a close-up of Samuel L. Jackson's famous "Oh I'm sorry did I break your concentration?" is shown, which is interpreted as if he is saying this to the audience themselves. The music then changes to the funk, upbeat song "Jungle Boogie", while many short takes of action-packed scenes are shown, almost like a montage of the exciting scenes to conclude the synopsis of the story.
The trailer is aimed towards a broad range of audiences, generally just those into cinema, and since the release of the film has gained a cult following and is hailed as a modern classic and a landmark in the Crime genre.
This Is England
This Is England is a 2004 drama film by Shane Meadows and produced by Warp Films. The film trailer's purpose is to advertise the film and show the audience what the film is about, as well as provide the audience with mise-en-scene into the story and setting. The film trailer is aimed at a broad cinematic audience, and may especially appeal to those who grew up or lived in the eighties and remembered some of its sub-cultures such as the mods and skinheads. It first introduces the main character, an 11-year-old called Shaun who has lost his father in the Falklands War and is taken in by a gang of skinheads. The trailer uses music from that time-period, mainly ska and punk music as that is the prominent music taste of the skinhead culture.
The meaning is shown through some of the content such as music and shots used in the trailer to increase mise-en-scene. The beginning of the trailer shows Shaun having a tough time, explaining he is being picked on at school and that he is upset at the loss of his father. Wide shots of Shaun walking alone through council estates of England and still shots of where he lives are used, helping establish the type of background the characters are from. This is backed up by a melancholy guitar playing in the background to show that Shaun is lonely. There are panning clips of him walking through his street alone and establishing shots of where he lives, such as a shot of the beach near his home.
However the music gets a lot lighter and happier when Shaun is shown introduced to the skinheads in the film. The music also changes to ska music to represent the skinhead culture. There are also quick cuts of black-and-white photographs of him and his new gang to help represent a montage or flashback feel.
Most of the first few takes from the film in the trailer are quite up-beat and happy, resembling the fact that Shaun has made some new friends and feels accepted, showing slow-motion clips of Shaun and his gang of skinheads having a fun time and laughing and jumping around. However the happiness of the trailer is brought to a halt when the antagonist of the film Combo (played by Shane Meadows) is introduced, showing a tense scene between him and the black character Milky, connoting the theme of- racism in the film.
The music then changes to an upbeat rock track with quick cuts of action and fighting, helping show the genre of film as a drama, as well as some dialogue to help tell the story and denote some of the political themes expressed through the film. Like the film itself, it is as if the trailer begins as a feel-good story then slowly progresses to chaos due to wrong influences and manipulation, and this is shown due to the acceleratingly fast cuts between scenes in the editing which helps make the situation look like it is spiralling out of Shaun's control.
The target audience may be primarily for those into independent British cinema, possibly those who follow Meadows' work already, though the film has become extremely popular and reached out to mass audiences and was acclaimed internationally.
Snatch Trailer
The purpose of the film trailer for crime drama film Snatch by Guy Ritchie is used to give audiences an insight into the film and the subject matter it touches upon. It begins with a fast-moving clip of bank robbers unloading weapons before cutting to text revealing the director of the film and other titles he is known for to attract audiences familiar to Ritchie's work. The trailer's pace is significantly faster than the other two, using short, fast takes establishing how many characters are involved in a British heist involving a diamond.
The trailer's content is generally narrated and explained by all the characters from many scenes which help establish what the film is about, explaining situations involving boxing, guns and money, helping the context of the film become more clear. The fast-paced narrative and cuts between characters and setting also help connote the fast, complicated drama itself in the film and create meaning.
Towards the end of the trailer, the soundtrack turns to Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache", while freeze frames of the characters use a special effect to create a pop-art look while listing the cast and who plays each character. The FX used on these freeze frames almost has an American Spaghetti Western feel, similar to the works of Sergie Leone (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly) and could connote some classic Western film influences on the movie.
The film trailer is vey representative of the crime genre, and is shown clearly through its subject matter and what the characters talk about. The use of stereotypical cockney accents also help increase mise-en-scene
After the title in san serif font is displayed on the screen with a dark, gritty moving effect, one last scene involving Brad Pitt playing an Irish character with a strong accent talking to Jason Statham and Stephen Graham is used, ending with the quote "Did you understand a word he just said?" used for comic relief, which is effective in showing the audience the humorous side of the film.
The trailer is generally aimed at audiences over the age of 18, and preferably those into British movies.
Shutter Island Trailer
The purpose of the film trailer for Martin Scorsese's psychological thriller Shutter Island is to advertise the film and what it is about.
The content of the trailer uses long takes, often in slow-motion, along with a variety of shots and camera movements including pans, back-tracking and a large establishing shot of the island. DiCaprio carries the narrative while dips to black help break up the footage. The first half of the trailer is very built up and helps us understand that something bad may be about to happen in the asylum. The music throughout is very atmospheric and brings a dark tone to the story, typical of a psychological drama, and tends to pick up speed as the trailer goes on, as well as the speed of the cuts. This helps connote the speeding confusion and insanity the character goes through in the film, helping contextualise the genre and create meaning.
Certain sound-effects are very stereotypical of a psychological horror, with shrieks and screams in the background, helping the mise-en-scene of a mental asylum become more effective. As character's narrate the synopsis of the film, slow panning shots of prisoners behind bars and dark asylum corridors play to help establish the setting even further.
The trailer tries to convey meaning that there is something sinister about the asylum and that there is something wrong that DiCaprio must uncover - with a lot of dialogue from him and his partner expressing their suspicions with the place, as well as more subtle shots such as extremely quick shots of the blood-splattered womb he is meant to be searching for. As the trailer progresses, the shots get faster and use more visual effects such as white flashes and quick dips to black.
The trailer is very representative of the genre
Being a Martin Scorcese film, fans of his previous films such as Goodfellas and Casino will be part of the target audience this trailer is aimed at, as well as fans of the horror drama. Fans of DiCaprio will also be taken into account for the target audience, and some scenes show a resemblance to the complex film Inception, so fans of those types of films will also be interested in the film.
Trainspotting Trailer
Trainspotting is a 1996 drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the book by Irvine Welsh. Set in Scotland, the film trailer's purpose is to advertise and promote the film and its subject matter, which is drug abuse and crime.
Despite its dark subject matter and the film's controversial themes, the beginning of the film uses upbeat music while a fast back-track of actor Ewan McGregor running through a city from police plays. While this is happening, a first-person voice-narration by McGregor is played over the edit, reading "Choose life, choose a job, choose a career, choose a family..." It almost immediately throws the audience into the life of the main character who is portrayed as living a drug-fuelled, criminal life.
The use of the gritty neighbourhood setting also helps increase the mise-en-scene of the characters' lives and their addiction to heroin.
The trailer is very fast moving throughout, and tries to introduce each character by freeze framing shots of them in the film in black-and-white, beginning with McGregor's character Renton.
There is no straightforward narrative involved in the trailer, but uses connotations within the characters' dialogue and actions to suggest drug-use and the abrasive behaviour of the characters.
The trailer's editing is quite consistent throughout and doesn't change speed or soundtrack. The speed itself and extremely fast cuts and shots are almost used to confuse the audience and make them ask themselves what's going on. We see strange antics from the group such as shooting a dog with a BB gun, going out in a nightclub, and some disturbing hallucinogenic images seen by the main character which helps show some of the dangers faced through drug abuse. The trailer's narrative is non-linear and doesn't follow any particular chronological order, but this itself is significant to the film's abrasive mood.
The film will have been aimed at quite a general audience, over the age of 18, and those into black comedy/dramas, as well as the previous successful film A Shallow Grave. Trainspotting has since received a cult following and is celebrated today for its extremely positive reception.
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