After surveying my target audience, the most frequent favourite film trailer was the Hunger Games trailer, therefore i thought it would be a good idea to have a look at it in order to see what made it so enjoyable to my target audience. By doing this i will be able to take inspiration from it, and will hopefull be able to create a product that appeals to my target audience as much as this existing trailer does. Below is the trailer.
Dialogue:
"We could do it you know, take off, live in the woods.", "They'd catch us", "Maybe not", "We wouldn't last 5 miles"
> this is the first dialogue the audience hears throughout the trailer. It immediately shows that the story focuses on people who are controlled by a much greater hierarchy. It leaves the audience asking, "who are 'they'?"
"The 74th annual hunger games!"
> When the audience hear the words 'hunger games' they immediately recognise it as it is the title of the film, therefore it causes them to pay attention because it is obvious that the games play a huge part in the film, and it has not yet been explained what the games actually are. This leaves the audience waiting to find out.
"I volunteer as tribute!"
> This shows that whatever the games are, this girl (Katniss) is the one going into them, which makes the viewer realise that she is the main character of the film. Because it shows her going in place of her sister, it gives the audience a first impression that she is very brave and courageous, as well as loyal to her sister as she is trying to protect her.
"Only one comes out"
> This is emotive language used by Katniss's friend Gale who is reminding her of the games. Although the audience may still not be clear on what the games are, this lets them know that everyone dies except for one person, which warns them that this film contains a lot of deaths and tragedies.
" And so it was decreed that each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up in tribute, one young man and woman to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice."
> This is a speech made by the president, and it is finally the dialogue that lets the audience know eactly what the games are for the first time in the trailer. It shows them that the hunger Games is an annual event in which children murder each other. This will engage the audience because it is a very powerful concept.
"If i'm gonna die, i wanna still be me"
> This was said by the supporting main character (Peeta) who was shown to go in the games with Katniss. This is the first time he speaks in the trailer, and by saying this, it is showing him to be very humble and genuine to the audience. Also shows that the games seem to have a reputation of changing people for the worse.
"10, 9, 8, 7 ,6 ,5 4, 3, 2...1!"
> This countdown to one is shown right at the end of the trailer with incidental music playing at the same time. Once the number one is said, the trailer ends very suddenly afterwards. I like this a lot because the tension built up more and more throughout the entire trailer right up until the last minute, then as soon as it peaked, it was cut off abruptly, leaving the audience wanting more.
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Editing
> The beginning shows a series of soft 'fade-in from black' transitions. This is the calmest part of the entire trailer, therefore it is easing the audience in and letting them know that this is the calm before the storm in terms of the action and excitement.
> There is a lot of short takes and jump cuts while Effie's hand is lingering in the bowl as she is picking one of the tributes names out. This shows that something unsettling and distressing is about to happen, and it makes the viewers feel slightly on edge while watching it.
> A text screen comes up reading "From the Best-Selling Epic Novels". This is an indication of good quality material, as the stories of the hunger games were good enough to be 'best selling'. This also will attract the fans of the books prior to this film, as they will instantly recognize it as a story they're familiar with.
> There is a series of fade-in transitions, each leading to a scene different from the previous one. For example, it goes from a scene of the train, to a scene of Peeta looking out of a window, to an establishing shot of the Capitol, to a view of a huge room full of beds and guards, to Katniss getting her hair brushed, to a pair of legs being waxed, to Katniss being in a talk show infront of a live audience; all in just 10 seconds of the trailer. This emphasizes how quickly everything at once is happening in her life, and how fast her life has suddenly changed.
> A text screen is shown saying 'The games" is followed by more trailer footage, then another saying "Will change", followed by another snippet of footage, closely followed by a final text saying "Everyone". This use of switching between trailer and segments of the sentence creates a lot of tension and it is something i would like to include my trailer. It makes the audience want to watch the trailer but also want to know what the sentence is going to say, so it is keeping them entertained throughout the whole thing.
> When Katniss is shown in the arena, there are cuts of everyone in the outside world watching her. For example, it goes from her district, to her little sister, to Gale etc. They all look very scared for her, which emphasizes how scary and serious these games are, which adds more tension to the viewer.
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Visual
> Starts with Katniss and Gale in the woods, smiling and laughing. They seem reasonably care-free, and this is the only scene in the entire trailer where Katniss is genuinely smiling. This shows that these two belong in the woods, as it is where they are their happiest; away from everyone else. This stops however when a large helicopter hovers above them, which immediately leads to them dashing for cover. This suggests that they constantly live in fear of something.
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> Hoards of children all wearing the same thing are gathered outside into rows infront of an extravagant woman on a stage. This shows how poor they are in comparison to this woman, and instantly lets the audience know where they stand in terms of social class; they are very low down. None of the children are smiling, everyone looks concerned and worried, and very little are even bothering to speak to one another.
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> Katniss is shown hugging and comforting her sister on numerous occasions, which is letting the audience know that they have a very strong, unbreakable bond. This is later tested when Katniss is shown volunteering in her sisters place, which makes the audience slightly distressed because they have just witnessed how close the two are, therefore it is very sad seeing how emotional they both are when it comes to the potential of losing each other.
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> Close-up of Effie's hand effortlessly picking a name out of the bowl. This can be a representation of the world they live in; Effie's hand represents the Capitol (on top and in total control, able to do what she likes), and the pieces of paper represent everyone in the district (a collection of names all trapped within a bowl, waiting to be picked out and forced to murder eachother for the Capitols amusement.)
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> Establishing shot of the Capitol shows how much more technologically advanced they are than Katnisses district. It once again portrays the point that the Capitol are wealthy and powerful, whereas the districts are poor and powerless.
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> The late night window scene between Katniss and Peeta implies that their may be a potential love interest, which will appeal to fans of romance films, however this isn't obvious, and it is clear that there is a lot more important things going on than relationships. This is effective because by doing this, it is not turning people away who are uninterested by pointless romance.
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> A scene is shown where the district are soluting Katniss. This shows that she is very respected and a lot of people look up to her for taking one for the team and going into the games on their behalf. They all think very highly of her, which makes the audience also think very highly of her too.
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> The final scene shows Katniss in the arena running for her life, before the trailer abruptly ends. This final scene makes the audience want to know whether she survived the games or not, and will therefore entice them to watch it.
I really enjoyed this trailer of the hunger games and it was also a trailer that enticed me to see the film (as well as reading the books), therefore by analysing it i am able to use all these points i have found out and i can put them into my own work.
