I shall be basing my trailer on the classic novel, ‘Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, written by Robert louis Stevenson in 1886. It shall be a non linear narrative, jumping back and forth between my Jekyll and Hyde characters, by using this technique I am incorporating postmodern film characteristics such as a confusion over time and intertextuality.

I shall be keeping as true the the novel as i can, basing the trailer on the 1930’s by using a film noir style.

The trailer shall begin showing a couple that are content in each others company in different situations, During which i shall use up-beat music to enhance the mood and bright, warm lighting to produce a feeling of comfort.

In the novel ‘Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, there is a scene within which the Dr drinks a vile that is produced to enhance his care free and happy personality however it created a second, evil identity that is Mr. Hyde. Continuing with my idea of having a modern twist I shall, rather than drink a vile/potion, have my male protagonist take pills or inject himself with a serum in order to create this second personality. I shall also use a distortion of the camera during this scene to give the feeling of a drunkenness and disorder.

With this change of personality I shall introduce a change in ambience. By removing all up-beat music and warm lighting and replacing these with dark lighting and eerie music I hope to mirror the evil identity and add a sense of tension.

My male protagonist in his state of villain, shall begin to follow or stalk the female protagonist (his partner) as the serum takes over his ability of judgement. Mixed with unusual camera angles and a use of flattening effect during any violent scenes I will enhance the idea of poor judgement and again link back to postmodern film characteristics.

Through-out the second half of the trailer, in which the Hyde character is in place, I shall use short, quick flashbacks to the couple together as a reminder that this is the same man causing havoc to the woman he loves.

Sep 5

My target audience.

Film noir:(Definition from James Monaco’s Film Glossary) “Originally a French term meaning “black film”, now in common usage, to indicate a film with a gritty, urbn setting that deals mainly with dark or violent passions in a downbeat way.Especially common in American cinema during the late forties and early fifties, its themes of existential alienation and paranoia have often been read as signs of postwar malaise and Cold War anxiety “.

Film Noir is most commonly thought of during the 1940’s-1950’s, I feel that my target market should relate to this era in one way or another, therefore i would consider aiming my key demographic at a group aged 40-80, chosing this age group due to the fact that they would have grown up with this genre of film through-out their childhood.

However, after researching my genre i have decided that this type of film would be presented in an art house cinema and would have a very Niche market, considering this artistic style i would expect students studying an artistic subject to be interested in the film or people with an artistic background or job. Bearing this in mind i shall consider having an age limit of eighteen and over, choosing this demogrphic so that students would be able to watch it and making sure that younger audiences are not exposed to the violent scenes within the film.

Now that i have explained my reasons behind my age group i have now done more research into the Film Noir genre and found that it would mainly be targeted towards a male audience. This is because of the dark themes and often detective/gangster story lines. There is also a use of a Femme Fatale which would be used to attract the male audience as the idea of a strong minded, controling woman is considered the male fantasy.

My key demographic is males aged18+.

Sep 5

Dracula (1931) trailer

IMDb – The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous young Mina.

In comparison to the Frankenstein trailer, Dracula can be seen as very similar. Throughout this trailer there are signs of dark and sinister stories, dark lighting and similar sounds editing choices.

The trailer again begins with non-diegetic music, however unlike frankenstein this trailer uses diegetic sound to sell the film as well as the use of a voice over.

The font is the exact replicant of the font used in Frankenstein, adding a greusome twist to the other wise calm filming.

The filming itself challenges the conventional style of horror or thriller trailers. Unlike most, the shots are long and slow rather than jump cuts with a fast pace, the tension is however built using the wording and concentration on listening to what the main character is saying.

Sep 5

Frankenstein (1931) trailer

IMDb – Horror classic in which an obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses.

An adaptation of the novel ‘Frankenstein, or, the modern prometheus’ by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1931) the trailer, captures the definition of film noir perfectly. Incorporating dark and sinister stories and images, this trailer produces the atmosphere i would hope to create within my own trailer.

When analysing this trailer, i was first aware of the dark lighting making the image almost entirely black with minimum detail. I was led to believe this trailer was filmed at night but the editing proved to be the reason behind the choice of colour, the use of black and white photography also adding to this film noir style.

Titles are also massively important within this trailer, they explain the story, build up anticipation to watch the film, and due to the font used (reminding me of ghost busters) there is a gruesome factor about the trailer instantaneously. A voice over is introduced to further enhance the titles, giving more detail into the clips we are seeing as they match the images produced by the words spoken.

Sound is carefully used in this trailer. I noticed it began with creepy, non-diegetic music to set the atmosphere to the trailor, however moving away from the controversial idea of including music through-out the trailer, Frankenstein trailer’s sound seems to stop when the voice over begins, the use of this technique immediately draws the attention to what the man is saying about the clips, it is captivating.

Sep 5

film noir – Bette Davis in now voyager (1942)

Through out my research of film noir I have come across smoking as a main scene in every film. Therefore i have decided to analyse this scene of Bette Davis and Paul Henreid which is arguably one of the most romantic cinema moments. I feel by displaying this short scene i can give a small snippet of the style of film i am aiming to produce, introducing the style of music and mis en scen i hope to recreate.

I chose this scene in particular due to the iconic moment in which Paul Henreid lights both cigarettes in his own mouth before handing one over to Bette Davis, although smoking is considered a ‘bad habit’ in the more recent years, this clip makes it seem romantic and heart warming to it’s audience.

Having the image in black and white helps to create a contrast between the white smoke and the dark jacket of the subjects also between the night sky out of the patio doors.

including all of these features with the music, dark lighting and the actors body language towards each other, topped with close-ups showing their reactions to each other and the emotion they are feeling create a calm, romantic and sutle atmosphere.