The Strangers Movie Poster...

The poster for 'The Strangers' plays on the vulnerability of the two main characters, particularly in this poster the woman. The mise-en-scene of the poster shows one of the large, empty rooms in the house which the film focuses on. The woman is stood in the room alone, which could be for a number of reasons. Firstly, generically we see a woman on her own to be more vulnerable than a man alone in the same position. This also could be for the reason that the woman (Liv Tyler) is a better known actress than the actor who plays her partner in the film (Scott Speedman). The still frame from the film shows the male killer lurking in the shadows behind the woman. This not only plays on showing the audience something the character isn't aware of, making us feel included, as well as to show that the man is in the house and the woman has no idea. Like 'Red Eye', the film poster for the Strangers also has a phrase/slogan at the top of the poster. It reads 'We tell ourselves theres nothing to fear, but sometimes we're wrong'. This phrase links with the idea that the woman feels safe being in the large house, but in fact is in more danger because of it, as the big house has allowed the man to get in without alerting her. The title is positioned at the bottom of the poster, in a white font to make it stand out on the shadowed area in which it's placed. The title, 'The Strangers' links to the identity of the killers, as a 'stranger' is considered as someone who we do not know personally. The killers in the film make sure to stay 'Strangers' through the masks they wear to hide their identity from their victims.

Toy Story 3 Movie Poster...

The film poster for Toy Story 3, like the teaser trailer, doesn't give anything away about the film. Toy Story, being a sequel, already has a large fan base, therefore doesn't need to attract people with the story. The poster is made up of all the toy characters involved in the film, including some of the new characters introduced in the sequel. This not only makes audiences excited to see all their favourite characters from the previous two Toy Story films, but also allows them to meet some of the new character they're going to be introduced to in the film. Seeing these new additions to the character list may give some people to push to go watch it, had they gotten bored of the characters that already existed. The poster, because of all the characters filling it, is very vibrant and colourful, giving the poster a happy, upbeat feel to it. This thought is emphasised by the smiles on the faces of all of the characters. Other than the characters, the only other thing on the poster is a huge '3', positioned in the centre of the poster. Unlike most films (eg. Red Eye) which put the title of the film on the poster in big font where it will be noticed, the film poster for Toy Story 3 doesn't do that. Having been around for over a decade, the Toy Story franchise is already well known by almost everybody, and most of those people are also well aware of, and have been waiting for the third film to be released. For these reasons, the number three, along with all of the characters on the poster, is enough that people don't need to see the words 'Toy Story' to know what film this poster is promoting. The date of release is also written at the bottom of the poster, in larger font that it usually would be, as alot of people have been waiting ten years for this film, so the exact day of release is very important to some people, who can't wait a day longer than they have to to see the film.

Red Eye Movie Poster...

The film poster for 'Red Eye' focuses on putting across a message about the plot of the film, rather than focusing on different selling points. For example, some film posters focus more on showing the actors/actresses starring in the film, as big names often attract big audiences. This tactic has probably not been used as the main actors aren't hugely well known, and the poster is relying on the story of the film to attract audiences. The image on the poster is of the two main characters upper bodies, with the centre of the image showing that the man has a grasp of the woman's wrist, suggesting he is trapping her, but not giving away any more detail about than is needed. The faces of the characters are in shadow and just out of frame, so unable to see. This will have been done to apply even more focus to the hands. Along with the actors names positioned at the top of the poster above their respective characters, there is a phrase in the centre just underneath the names, in a different colour of font to make it stand out. This phrase, or slogan for the film reads 'Fear takes Flight', both revealing more about the genre of the film, and relating it back to airport/being on a plane setting of the film. The mise-en-scene of the poster emphasise the serious nature of the film, as it is all dimly lit except for the two hands, which is the main focus of the poster. Another reason for the rest of the poster to be in darkness is that the vital feature of the image is the two hands, therefore it may be to take any focus away from the rest of the picture. The title of the film is in big red font in the middle of the poster, making it very apparent to the audience so people don't see the poster without noticing the title of the film, which is the main purpose of a film poster.

The Strangers Teaser Trailer...

The teaser trailer for the Strangers sets the scene, emphasising the isolation of the house involved in the film. It does this by showing a number of different types of houses, with subtitles underneath the pictures explaining why a house such as that one would be chosen to live in. It then goes on to explain that 'some people', making reference to the killers, choose a house for a completely different reason, showing houses that are isolated from any others, and that have been circled in red pen, signifying they've been targeted by the killers. The last picture turns out to be the house which is the main focus of the film. The mise-on-scene shows the house at night, suggested they are even more alone as there isn't going to be anyone walking past this late at night. The music starts off very old fashioned as the pictures of the houses go by, but then becomes very slow and eery, setting the mood for a thriller/horror movie. Even in the house, while the couple are going about their business, and begin kissing, the atmosphere remains extremely tense, only because of the music. The knock at the door signifies the turn in the trailer, as after the words 'you're gonna die' are whispered, the screen goes black, and then the action shots start of the couple being attacked. The entire trailer is edited to look like an old fashioned slideshow, and this plays a part in the sounds later in the trailer, where the music is replaced by the fast paced sound of the slides turning- matched by the extremely fast paced shots - mixed in with the sounds of the characters screaming. There isn't much in terms of a wide variety of camera angles, but this is likely to of been done so as not to take anything away from the seriousness of the film. The mise-en-scene throughout the trailer is used to emphasise the isolation of the couple from safety, with the early shots showing them in the huge house, making them look even smaller and more vulnerable. During the fast slideshow of shots, you see that there are in fact three killers, showing that not only are they isolated, but they are outnumbered as well. The killers are only shown in the slideshow of shots at the end to keep a sense of mystery to their characters. Near the end of the trailer, there is a shot saying that the film is inspired by 'true events'. This claim, while not necessarily completely true, does give the audience a further sense of fear, as the thing which most people find relieving about a horror film is that they know that it is farfetched, and that nothing like that would ever really happen. This relief is taken away by saying that the film is based on things which really happened.

Overall, this trailer is nearing the longest you would expect a teaser trailer to be, but it has the advantage of being a horror. Unlike other film genres, horrors almost always have a generic storyline, 'characters in danger, can they survive?'. Therefore, the audience can be shown more clips of the film, and still feel the need to see it in the cinema. The sound and mise-en-scene all emphasise the genre of the film, while the camera angles are kept relatively simple so the film remains about the storyline and not about the amazing shots.

Toy Story 3 Teaser Trailer...

The Toy Story teaser trailer is done in a different way to most teaser trailers in that it is like a short film itself, that promotes the actual film. Instead of showing small clips from the film, the teaser shows the characters from the film preparing for the release of the film. This technique is successful in promoting the film as the audience already knows the characters, from the previous two Toy Story films, so they do not have to be introduced to the audience. It also means that the film gets promoted, without any footage of the film being used so none of the storyline is revealed. There is no editing or camera angles used, just the one, long scene from the one camera angle, that tracks the characters. There is also very little to the mise-en-scene, with the background being the wallpaper in Andy's room, another feature of the Toy Story films which audiences recognise. This very simple trailer is as basic as it can get in terms of camera angles and mise-en-scene, yet this takes nothing away from the trailer in attracting audiences, as the characters themselves are enough to make people watch, as for Toy Story, the third film in the series is 10 years in the waiting, so just to see the characters lets audiences instantly know that Toy Story 3 is on its way, building hype in that way, rather than by having an amazingly detailed and edited trailer to get peoples attention. The music is a tune that all Toy Story fans associate with the films, the song 'You've got a Friend in Me' by Randy Newman, this tune is played in the background throughout the trailer, but doesn't take away from the conversation the characters are having, which is the main feature of the trailer.

Overrall, this teaser trailer, like the one for 'Red Eye' is longer than the average teaser trailer but gives away absolutely nothing about the film, which allows it to continue for longer. The trailer is basic and relies heavily on attracting audiences through the presence of the characters alone, which is successful for the sole reason that the characters are already well known by the majority of audiences.

Red Eye Teaser Trailer...

The teaser trailer for Red Eye is misleading as it originally portrays the film as a romantic comedy type film- yet it is later revealed that it is a thriller. The music in the trailer is used to set the 'fake' mood at the beginning, again changing dramatically as the trailer turns much more serious, with the upbeat tune changing suddenly to face paced drum beats, completely altering the tone of the trailer. While showing a number of clips of the man and woman speaking, they give away no information about the real plot of the film, only allowing the audience to know that they have met while waiting for a delayed plane. The facial expressions of the characters are used alot as well, probably to keep the actual story a secret, as well as to show the huge change in mood between the beginning and the end of the trailer. The trailer includes black shots with the words that a narrator is speaking on the screen, shown in between the shots of the film. These kind of clips allow the narrator to give the audience the basic outline of the film, without giving away any detail of the film. The beginning, lighthearted part of the trailer is during the daytime, which is used specifically to add to the mood of the trailer, suggesting the film is easy-watching. This technique is reversed later in the trailer as it is suddenly night time when the true nature of the film is revealed, being a dark and fearful storyline. The trailer includes information about the director of the film- Wes Craven, as well as some of the films he'd previously directed. This has been added in to attract more people to the film, as the majority of people are well aware of the horror films like 'Scream' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and how successful they were as horror films. This information, therefeore, will make the film appeal to people who may not have been convinced up to that point. The Mise-en-scene is another feature used to display the strong contrast between the tone of the beginning of the trailer and that of the end of it. For the first half of the trailer, the man and woman are in the airport, surrounded by people, giving a sense of their safety. When the trailer becomes darker towards the end, the woman is not only on the plane where she cannot escape, but she is sat with the villain betwen her and the aisle, giving a feel that she is completely trapped. The editing of the trailer is used cleverly, as the clips are short, giving the audience the minimum amount of detail about the film. Also the pace of the shots throughout the trailer is relatively quick, increasing even more when the thriller side of the trailer begins. The editing of the villains 'red eye' nearing the end of the trailer also cleverly links the story back to the title of the film.

Overrall, this teaser trailer is unlike the usual teaser trailer, mainly for the fact it is a minute longer than alot would be. However, it still keeps all the important facts of the film hidden, and also importantly keeps the ending of the film a secret, giving the audience a reason to want to see the film.

Teaser Trailers vs Theatrical Trailers...

Teaser Trailers differ hugely from Theatrical Trailers for a number of reasons...

• Teaser Trailers are usually only between 30 and 60 seconds long/Theatrical Trailers are most often nearer to 2 minutes long.
• Teaser Trailers are released often when the film is still in production, to make audiences aware that its coming (or TEASE them)/Theatrical Trailers are realeased only a few weeks before the cinema release of the film, to let audiences know the film is out/coming out.
• Teaser Trailers show little to none of the film itself, both to keep audiences wondering and as the film is usually still being made/Theatrical Trailers tend to show lots of clips from the film in order to sell it to people watching.
• Teaser Trailers give away as little as possible of the storyline as possible/Theatrical Trailers can often give away the storyline by explaining the plot of the film to attract audiences to come and watch it.
• Teaser Trailers could be compared to the warm up of a film - giving the audience something to anticipate about/Theatrical Trailers are the sprint finish - putting everything the film has to offer into the trailer to try and make people pay to see it.

Final Decision...

After considering three of my options for what production piece to make, i decided on doing a teaser trailer. This is mainly because of the ancillary tasks involved with each option, as well as the weaknesses of the other alternatives.
The three options were:

• A Short Film - Film Poster/Radio Trailer
• A Teaser Trailer - Film Poster/Film magazine front cover
• A Documentary Extract - Radio Trailer/Newspaper Advert

While i initially thought that i could do any of the three to a high standard, after focusing more on what work i'd be giving myself, i realised that by doing a teaser trailer, i would be starting from a better position, as i've seen teaser trailers on tv and understand the basic concepts of them. Short films and documentaries however, were areas of media that i didn't know well, and to choose them would mean to learn about them from scratch, learning the basic conventions and typical features of them.

The Ancillary tasks also led me to my decision to choose a teaser trailer. First i chose the two ancillary tasks i would do for each option from the three we were provided with. Again, the ancillary tasks for the teaser trailer were things i could picture, and knew where to start with. I was less comfortable with the idea of creating radio trailers, for one because they're hard to research and get examples of, but also it would've restricted me to what i could do, as i wouldn't be able to use anything visual to promote the piece, which is what i decided i wanted to do.