1. In screen grab one, the audience can see the title of my film. It is called ‘The Tornado’ and is presented in a large white bold font. In the background the audience can see swirling clouds and gusts of winds. The animation behind the title was influenced by other popular superhero trailers like Thor and Spiderman. In the trailer Thor, rain and thunderclouds appeared behind the intertitles. In my trailer, I used clouds and wind to copy this effect and make my trailer seem more realistic.
2. Screen shot two shows the location/ setting for my trailer. The audience can see the silhouettes of various trees and bushes which suggest the trailer will be set in a rural area as opposed to an urban area. There is a red X in the sky which could be considered as a ‘help signal’ like the Bat signal which is used in Gotham City (Batman). I borrowed this idea from Batman but used a red X instead.
3. The third screenshot is of costume and props. The audience can see the torso of my superhero wearing a green and blue costume with a tornado logo in the centre of it. I added the logo as the majority of superheros wear them. This makes my superhero more realistic as he can be comparable to Superman that has the Giant S as a logo, Batman that has a Bat or Spiderman that has a spider. My superhero also maintains a green, blue and red colour scheme on his costume. The main costume is blue and green whereas his cape is red. We can also see the sling of a sword being held on his back. This prop is the weapon I choose to give ‘The Tornado’ as Superhero’s with swords are quite popular like with Deadpool from Xmen. I think giving my character this weapon makes him more realistic.
4. Screen grab 4 shows a shot reverse shot as the camera is behind ‘The Tornado’ and is filming over his shoulder. The main focus point is directed to be the sword on his back. This full shot showed a close up panning shot of the sword. After panning, the camera moved into the shot reverse shot. The shot reverse shot is in many superhero films and can show the audience what they are looking at, who they are looking at or simply just mise-en-scene on their back or costume. An example of a shot reverse shot is in the Avengers Assemble trailer where Captain America and Iron man converse with each other. Shot reverse shots can also be a good way of achieving eye line match and continuity. My scene also required some editing and is an example of when I used the Time lapse effect. To make filming easier, I filmed at the handle of the sword and panned down. I then reversed the shot in Premiere so the clip was played from the end to the beginning which looked much more effective. Many superhero films use Time Lapse to slow down or speed up action scenes. I used it to reverse a clip to make my filming easier. One example of time being slowed is in Superman Returns where the villain shoots at Superman and the bullets travelled in slow mo. Although the use of time alteration is not as effective in my trailer, I think its purpose is well needed.
5. Screen grab 5 shows the title font and style. The font used throughout my trailer was constant and stayed as this large white bold font. The style it appears in is growing larger from a distance. This represents the genre as it is typically action films and superhero film that use this method. To the audience, the titles grow bigger and bolder in front of them which implies an action film as opposed to a romantic film that would have a soft flowing font. The use of font can heavily influence the audience’s perception of film narrative and genre. The colour of the font is also important as a black and red font suggests the horror genre whereas the colour of my font is white which can easily be perceived as a number of genres. The size of my titles enforces the idea of my film being an action or superhero film.
6. Screen shot 6 suggests the story and how the trailer sets it up. This picture show ‘The Tornado’ with glowing red eyes and piercing stare. This image can connote a number of things. The red glowing eyes can suggest revenge or vengeance as it is stereotypical colour a person eyes turn when angry. The red eyes can also suggest the superhero has a darker side to him and could be evil. The red eyes could simply be a super power (like Cyclops from X-men). As my trailer was a teaser trailer, the idea was to keep snares and equivocations to avoid the truth and only give partial or incomplete answers (Roland Barthes Enigma Theory). The red eyes keep the audience guessing at the story until another trailer or the film is released. The red eyes are a typical feature of other superhero films and the idea for it was borrowed from Super Returns and Cyclops from X-men. If my character has similar powers, it makes him more realistic.
7. Shot 7 shows how the genre is introduced. The shot is one of the opening shots and shows a cape blowing in the wind. This is such a cliché shot that the audience members will instantly recognise this trailer to be a superhero trailer. The cape blowing in the wind is used in all caped superhero films. I borrowed this idea as it makes my superhero seem more genuine and realistic. I worried that it would be too cliché and would compare to a parody superhero film like Kick Ass but I managed to create a dramatic enough trailer to make it look serious. The cape blowing in the wind instantly sets up the audience’s perception of the film and expectations.
8. Shot 8 shows how the characters are introduced. I used the pedestal shot type to introduce ‘The Tornado’ but I cut the clip up to show fragments of him instead of as a whole person. This creates suspense and mystery as the Superhero is never revealed as a whole until the end. I’ve seen the pedestal shot used before for a really important character within the story. One example is Buzz Light Year (one of the main protagonists) in Toy Story.
9. Shot 9 shows one of the special effects I used. It is a scene where a helicopter falls from the sky and crashes into the ground. This special effect is quite Hollywood dramatic and makes my superhero look more realistic with a bigger budget than it actually had. The action scene/ special effects really appeals to my target audience which is males aged 12-25 in middle class. They may be quite used to seeing this already through other superhero movies or other media texts like video games.
