Genre Research: Comedy

I have mapped and analysed a comedy hybrid (Central Intelligence), plus researched the genre independently by viewing a large range of other trailers.

Creating a comedy trailer is difficult, but possible when crossed over with another genre. To begin with, every trailer I viewed with comedy in the genre description included another genre alongside it (e.g Deadpool, comedy and action). The structure includes a storyline that is standard action/thriller/horror etc, but has added punchlines and all the comedy conventions present. These conventions include background music that cuts when a punchline is delivered, high key lighting and often quite a few two shots and/or over shoulder shots for the humorous dialogue.

My reasons for liking the idea of comedy as a sub-genre for my trailer is that I believe it will be an interesting challenge to the course and simply make my trailer more interesting and unique. Comedies do not require a large plethora of resources either as the dialogue is the critical component to any comedy in existence. While it is not yet my final decision, comedy is definitely in consideration.  

Differences between film trailers and openings

A film trailer is essentially a compilation of footage from the completed production that advertises the film through highlights and climatic moments in the sequence. Very occasionally, the trailer will contain scenes that are not actual footage and are computer-generated, but these are often `teaser trailers` that are created during pre-production rather than post production.

Film openings present a title and include details such as the cast members and major institutions. It also establishes a diegesis and suggests to the audience what the atmosphere of the film is likely to be. It is not a requirement to hint at or reveal the storyline (in the same way a trailer has to), but some film openings move at different paces. Many openings will move slowly and hold information until the production's climax, but others will give away a critical detail within the first 120 seconds.

In terms of creating a film trailer in A2, the differences to the AS courses' film opening include:

• The order that some information and/or text appears will be different - e.g the title will be at the end of the trailer rather than the beginning of the film opening.
• The film trailer must hint at the story-line. A film opening does not necessitate this.
• Creating a film trailer will involve shots and scenes from the (intended, implied) film production but they will not be the same order as the events from the story proposal. It cannot give away the story structure, only the content.

Film trailer codes and conventions

Film trailers have a few conventions that are followed universally. To begin with, the shots within a trailer are essentially a compilation of footage from the actual completed production. This means that almost every trailer (besides 'teasers') are in fact released when the film is in post-production and the trailer is part of the distribution process. Also, as the footage is often from the actual film, the shots are not in the same order they appear in the film to avoid the audience picking up too much on the story structure.

Also common in film trailers, is a brief synopsis of the story-line through dialogue pieced together through film footage. For example, they will use a character saying: "The police want us locked up" in the trailer to hint to the audience that the protagonist or antagonist is not working alone and they are wanted.

Another universal convention is the film title's inclusion and position. it is usually placed at the end of the trailer and has a font and colour that reflects its genre (e.g black writing and calligraphy for a horror). Film trailers also have production company logos at the very beginning to hint to the audience what the film may feature (e.g 20th Century Fox for a large budget production).

Critical for any film trailer, the release date is always included and usually positioned at the end. This is done so that the audience can watch the trailer, decide if it is something they must see, then they have the information of the film's title, release date and social links. The addition of social media links is a more recent feature of film trailers but still very important all the same as viral marketing is a very important part of the distribution process.

Lastly, the length of a film trailer will often be approximately 1:30-2:30 and every trailer will have music that reflects the footage shown and the film's genre. Music that perfectly compliments a film trailer makes it more effective and helps the audience identify its genre.      

What I have learnt from my film mappings

Within my film mappings, I have learnt a large number of conventions that should be present in my trailer . I have seen action, comedy, science fiction and thrillers all as genres within the trailers I have viewed. These genres all carry their own qualities and identity within the production and these can be seen and identified in their film trailer.

In comedy productions, I noticed that a pause in background music would be common when a punchline is delivered by a character in order to bring attention to it. Also, comedy trailers often have a humorous tagline to go with TV advertisements or other traditional marketing features (e.g print ads). Note also that the trailer can often begin or end with a funny punchline or scene that cements its genre as a comedy. If I was to consider creating a comedy, I would have to take these points into account.

Science Fiction usually crosses over with Action or Fantasy but, in the case of Assassin's Creed (movie), Action/Sci-fi was the genre. For science fiction, I noticed that the background music changed as soon as the diegesis changed (to hint at a new environment). This is relatively common in sci-fi productions if there is a storyline that involves travelling to a different planet or elsewhere beyond earth.

Action films have to show excitement within their trailer and this can be done through quick cuts, special effects - which may not be available to us due to budget - and most importantly, action. This could include car chases, fighting, or even free running. Action may be one of the most difficult genres to do under a small budget but scenes with quick proxemics and quick transitions to keep up momentum could still help create a convincing trailer.

Thrillers need tension, above all else. This can be done through careful selection of the background music (important for all genres) that could include a slow tempo and plenty of depth to the bass in a surrounding which is both dangerous and unfamiliar to our protagonist (just like the opening to the Assassin's Creed trailer). Also, Thrillers can benefit from slower transitions that speed up when a character is under threat, and this can then cross over with horror, action or another genre when the threat is revealed in the production. These points must be considered if Thriller becomes the chosen genre.

In addition, all the film trailers I analysed were from 2016 and they all carried one thing in common: hashtags. Usually positioned at the very last shot, information on how to share the trailer (or your comments) were placed here; not dissimilar to institutional information. In this task of creating a film trailer, invention of a hashtag for our film is an absolute must.

The film mappings I have been tasked with researching has given me invaluable information on different genre conventions, the importance of  giving some kind of information on how to share the production, and most importantly it has made me consider what has to part of my own work, depending on my choice of genre.