Coursework Introduction

For my media a2 coursework we have been asked to do two things, the first is to create a blog, In this blog i will be analysing different film trailers and different music videos. I will focus on the plot, camera angles, editing, sound and mise en scene. By analysing both film trailers and music videos it will hopefully allow me to indentify the pros and cons of each film trailer and music video and then help me and my group decide on which one to make for our practical.

The second part of our coursework is the practical, we have been asked in groups to create either a film trailer with a film poster or a music video with a CD cover. Each memeber of the group will construct a storyboard, once each member has constructed a storyboard we will pick out the best parts of each storyboard to make one final storyboard, this will be our guidline for the film trailer/music video

Film Poster Analysis - Bourne Ultimatum, De Ja Vu and Saw 4

Film Posters:

Analysis of Bourne ultimatum film poster:

This poster does its job in relating to the film perfectly; the film is based on a normal man who has his memory erased and identity taken from him. The main shot we see here is an unusual shot because the 'vantage point' of the camera is behind the subject so the audience can't see whom it is, this shot is good because this shot reflects the story that the subject in shot doesn't even know who he is. The good point of this film poster is the slogan at the top of the poster, this relates in with the shot of the subject. The slogan reads 'THIS SUMMER JASON BOURNE COMES HOME', this relates to the shot also because its as if the subject is looking at his home town, the shot is almost like a point of view shot.

Analysis of De Ja Vu Film Poster -

This film poster meets the criteria of this film to a certain extent. The shot of the subject is a medium close up, the expression of the subjects face seems to be confusion, this coincides with the little shots of an explosion and a woman on his shoulder, its as though the creator is showing the audience what the subject in focus is seeing

Analysis of Saw 4 film poster -

DVD Covers:

Film Trailer Analysis - Bourne Ultimatum, De Ja Vu and Saw 4

Analysis of 'Bourne Ultimatum' (2007)  -

This film can also fall under many different genres, the main four being action, adventure, mystery and thriller. The tagline of this film is "He was the perfect weapon until he became the target", this is a good tagline because its unusual, it intrigues the audience because there could be many reasons behind the tagline. This trailer is good at leaving the audience guessing.

The Trailer starts off with an establishing shot of a man standing in the snow, the only sound that can be heard within the first few seconds is wind faintly blowing, this makes the audience feel as though its set in a quiet town in the middle of winter. This scene is followed by a split second shot of a pair of eyes, this adds to the eerie feel of the trailer.

This is then followed by faint mood music, this could be interpreted as a fast heartbeat, this will keep the audience in suspense because they don't know whats going to happen next, this faint music in then followed by a slogan saying 'His Identity Stolen', this is where the trailer begins to show more of the story, it gives the audience an incite to part of the story.

The mood music is then replaced for a short period of time by a loud thunder sound, along with the thunder there is a shot of a body floating around in water, the slogan 'His Loved Ones Murdered' follows, this follows on from the last slogan because now the audience has more of the story. The few shots link in with this slogan perfectly because they show a man preparing a gun, firing it and then a car crashing into the river, this lasts around 3 secs, after this sequence of shots, there is a slow over the shoulder shot of the main character looking at the women whos just been murdered, this shot emphasises the slogan of 'His loved ones murdered' in more detail.

Another slogan then appears on screen, it reads 'His Past Stolen', this is followed by 4 seconds of fast action shots, this makes the audience believe that these shots are of the main characters past but they aren't sure so they are left guessing. The 4 seconds of fast shots are stopped by a close up of the main character, he says 'Someone started all of this...' followed by a shot of the main character looking at a projected image of what looks to be a file of himself that someones stored the suspense is added with the use of a slow heartbeat, the next shot goes back to a close up of the main character finishing his last sentence, he finishes by saying '...and Im gonna find them'.

This is then followed by more quick shots of action, the sound of cars crashing and glass smashing activates this sequence of fast action shots, a voice of a woman then says 'This is Jason Bourne', this is when the trailers starts to reveal more of the story. Fast music coincides with the fast shots.

Characters -




Analysis of 'De Ja Vu' (2006) -

This film can fall into many types of genres such as Action, Romance, Thriller and Sci-fi. The tagline of this film is ' If you thought it was just a trick of the mind, prepare yourself for the truth.', This tagline goes well with not only the name of the film, it also goes with the genre, this is helped by the use of camera shots, editing and sound.

There are many different camera shots used in this film, the majority of the shots being quick and snappy. Many shots appear several times during the trailer, this links in with the name of the film 'De Ja Vu'.

The length of the shots are no longer than 2-6 seconds, the 2 second shots focus on the main characters duty whereas the longer shots show the main characters emotion towards the women.

The trailer starts off with the touchstone pictures logo with an establishing shot of a long winding road with thunder and lighting in the background, this lasts a split second.

First of all there is a long shot of a womans outline in a dark room, this is followed by an extreme close up of the same women. Already the audience are in suspense because they have no idea who this character is. The narrative voice is of a mans, its a typical tone of voice used in many thriller based films, this hugely adds to the suspense of this whole trailer.

The next shot is a point of view shot of someone looking at a picture, this keeps the audience guessing who the picture is of, and who is looking at the picture. In the first shots of this trailer the narrative voice says 'Its that familiar feeling...when you meet a stranger', this happens as soon as the picture comes into shot, this means the audience could now start to think that the person looking at the picture doesn't even know who she is either.




Analysis of 'Saw 4'  (2007)-

This film trailer falls under two main genres, Horror and Mystery. The Horror being the torture part of the film and the mystery being the fact that everyone knows who's committing the crime but they don't know where its being committed. The tag-line to this film is ' You Think Its Over......But Its Only Just Begun' this is a good tag-line because it link in with past Saw films, its reminding the audience that there's more to come from this particular series of films. It keeps the audience guessing.

The trailer starts off with a medium close up of man in a pitch black room, looking suspicious. This starts off the eerie feeling in this trailer. The eerie feeling of this trailer is extended when the man in the pitch black

Music Video Analysis

Beastie Boys - Sabotage:

Narrative Structure - This music video is a pastiche of a typical american cop programme, its based on the cops vs robbers style theme. This music video copies typical plots from american cop shows. This video doesnt have a specific stroyline to it, it has many different short and sharp storylines throughout. This music video doesnt follow propps theory of structuralism because it isnt in the form of certain fixed structures.

Setting - This music video is set on typical american roads, many different locations. The weather seems very hot with lots of bright sunlight, Its a typical american scenario with the long highways and sun setting in the distance. Adds to the pastiche element of this music video.

Characters - The characters in this video are played by the band members of Beastie Boys. This is good because the audience wants to see the band in the video. This is the Convention of the genre.

Costume - All cops had moustaches and wore glasses, also adds to the pastiche of this music video, making fun of the 70's style cops on america, this is called INTERTEXTUALITY. The cops are also dressed smart, shirt and ties, sometimes top button undone, Whereas the robbers are dressed very differently.

Lyrics - The lyrics match the actions shown on screen, the video links to the lyrics but it doesnt apply. These lyrics can be interpreted in a piwerful manner, for example to title of the song 'Sabotage', this is normally interpreted as something to do with destruction.

Special Effects - The special effects of this video are delibratly poor as its a spoof of typical american cop shows. random explosions of cars and an obvious dummy being thrown of a bridge as if its a real person. Typical 70's cop effect.

Camera Angles/ Editing - Quick and snappy shots which match the tempo of the song. The editing also matches the spoof genre of this video. Lots of different shots used from all types of distances. Shots are no longer than a second or maybe 2 seconds. There is a massive variety of shots they will keep the audience occupied.