Directed By: Mo Ali
Genre: Action/Thriller
I have chosen this trailer for the British action film Shank (2010), by the makers of Kidulthood and Adulthood which stars young British actors Adam Deacon, Kaya Scodelario and Ashley 'Bashy' Thomas. I have picked this trailer as a successful and effective example of how a trailer draws in an audience and productively informs and advertises the film's contents without giving too much away.
The trailer starts with a man kicking a punchbag in a gym, with non-diegetic sound of overlapping voices shouting which sounds like the beginning to a song, with the scratchy sound of radio tuning. The production companies logos; Revolver, Gateway Films and Gunslinger, flash up quickly on the screen and then a scratchy and blurred screen with 'From The Distributor that bought you Kidulthood' written on it is shown, which would target their audience at an early stage. This then jump-cuts to a shot of legs sprinting down a road and being chased by a motorcycle, to a slow-motion shot of the boy jumping over a ledge. Over the top of this, there is non-diegetic speech of a man speaking which cuts to a scene of the black male holding the back of his young brother's head saying 'I love you right'. The use of accents from the start adds to the mis-en-scene of the film trailer and the accents of the characters are all strong London accents, featuring alot of youth slang. Then there is a shot of the younger boy looking up at his brother. That shot is then blended into a black screen which then cuts to various shots from the film such as a motorcycle hurtling down a street, the boy flipping over a wall in slow motion, the brothers training in a gym, a double decker bus driving down a dirty and abandoned street and a group of young males and a dog walking down a street. The dress codes of the characters are all quite similar too, wearing tracksuits, caps, hoods and casual labelled clothing which is the dress codes of youths and gang members - 'gangsters' and 'chavs' - in British society. This group of males are also different races, two being black, one Asian and two being white, which highlights the racially diverse culture. A high pitched sound is rising and then it stops with the sound of a drum as the beginning of the soundtrack of the trailer kicks in. This sound of the drum is matched to a shot of a group of youth's blacked out silhouettes, with one of them punching another in the face. This, from the start, sets the scene of a fast-paced and violent action film.
The next shot of the trailer sets the scene with another scratchy and blurred screen with 'London 2015' across it in bold letters. At this point the non-diegetic soundtrack kicks in which has a British hip-hop/grime beat, adding to the mis-en-scene of the trailer. This cuts to various shots of tall blocks of flats, youths vandalising and fighting in the streets and the older brother speaking to his little brother saying 'kids are killing kids everywhere now, it's out of control'. There is then a short clip of two gangs of youths blurred out as a silhouettes as a bright light shines between as then collide and start fighting. Two characters are then shown to be walking in slow motion towards the camera, which then cuts to the scratchy screen again with says 'The gangs have taken over' in bold letters. There is then a jerky shot of a huge gang of black, male youths which touches on common stereotypes and ideologies in our society today. The gang are all dressed in black, with their hoods up of with skeleton mask handkerchiefs tied over their mouths so they look intimidating and frightening. The use of these similar dress codes highlights that they are a gang, and the central male in this shot is placed there to indicate his authority, status and control of the gang. The sound of the older brother's voice is over the top of this, saying 'Stay away from the block, blood'. This is a warning and from the beginning of the trailer there are hints to the audience that gang crime and violence is the main theme of the film.
I have chosen this trailer for the British action film Shank (2010), by the makers of Kidulthood and Adulthood which stars young British actors Adam Deacon, Kaya Scodelario and Ashley 'Bashy' Thomas. I have picked this trailer as a successful and effective example of how a trailer draws in an audience and productively informs and advertises the film's contents without giving too much away.
The trailer starts with a man kicking a punchbag in a gym, with non-diegetic sound of overlapping voices shouting which sounds like the beginning to a song, with the scratchy sound of radio tuning. The production companies logos; Revolver, Gateway Films and Gunslinger, flash up quickly on the screen and then a scratchy and blurred screen with 'From The Distributor that bought you Kidulthood' written on it is shown, which would target their audience at an early stage. This then jump-cuts to a shot of legs sprinting down a road and being chased by a motorcycle, to a slow-motion shot of the boy jumping over a ledge. Over the top of this, there is non-diegetic speech of a man speaking which cuts to a scene of the black male holding the back of his young brother's head saying 'I love you right'. The use of accents from the start adds to the mis-en-scene of the film trailer and the accents of the characters are all strong London accents, featuring alot of youth slang. Then there is a shot of the younger boy looking up at his brother. That shot is then blended into a black screen which then cuts to various shots from the film such as a motorcycle hurtling down a street, the boy flipping over a wall in slow motion, the brothers training in a gym, a double decker bus driving down a dirty and abandoned street and a group of young males and a dog walking down a street. The dress codes of the characters are all quite similar too, wearing tracksuits, caps, hoods and casual labelled clothing which is the dress codes of youths and gang members - 'gangsters' and 'chavs' - in British society. This group of males are also different races, two being black, one Asian and two being white, which highlights the racially diverse culture. A high pitched sound is rising and then it stops with the sound of a drum as the beginning of the soundtrack of the trailer kicks in. This sound of the drum is matched to a shot of a group of youth's blacked out silhouettes, with one of them punching another in the face. This, from the start, sets the scene of a fast-paced and violent action film.
The next shot of the trailer sets the scene with another scratchy and blurred screen with 'London 2015' across it in bold letters. At this point the non-diegetic soundtrack kicks in which has a British hip-hop/grime beat, adding to the mis-en-scene of the trailer. This cuts to various shots of tall blocks of flats, youths vandalising and fighting in the streets and the older brother speaking to his little brother saying 'kids are killing kids everywhere now, it's out of control'. There is then a short clip of two gangs of youths blurred out as a silhouettes as a bright light shines between as then collide and start fighting. Two characters are then shown to be walking in slow motion towards the camera, which then cuts to the scratchy screen again with says 'The gangs have taken over' in bold letters. There is then a jerky shot of a huge gang of black, male youths which touches on common stereotypes and ideologies in our society today. The gang are all dressed in black, with their hoods up of with skeleton mask handkerchiefs tied over their mouths so they look intimidating and frightening. The use of these similar dress codes highlights that they are a gang, and the central male in this shot is placed there to indicate his authority, status and control of the gang. The sound of the older brother's voice is over the top of this, saying 'Stay away from the block, blood'. This is a warning and from the beginning of the trailer there are hints to the audience that gang crime and violence is the main theme of the film.
There is then a shot of the young, black male (Junior) sat next to an Indian-looking older male, clutching his hand in a bloody bandage. The older male says 'These guys are reckless, Junior', which then jump cuts to a an older, black youth saying 'What you running for? We just wanna talk to you.' Here there is a a shot of Junior being thrown to the ground by a group of the black-clad gang of youths and there is a focus on a knife being held above the young boy on the floor, then with a shot of the older black youth smiling evilly whilst looking over the younger boy, highlighting his power and authority in the gang. Then there is a shot of Junior's brother running over and punching his brother's captor and yelling for his brother to run, while shouting at the gang of youths. There is then a shot of Junior running away in slow motion which then freezes and turns sepia in colour, his face looking pained and upset, blood all over his top. The next shot is of one of the youths stabbing Junior's brother from behind, with loud slamming and shooting sound effects used to build suspense, with a shot of Junior clasping his hand, crying and banging his back against a garage door.
Then there is a close-up of Junior's angry face, with someone saying 'What you gonna do, huh?' over the top whilst an eerie and shrill sound is rising to build tension, which then cuts to quick shots of Junior and a group behind him walking in slow motion, a shot of his hand dripping with blood and a close up on his face when he says; 'I'm gonna kill them......today.'. From this point, the tempo of the trailer picks up as an epic, past-paced beat kicks in as the soundtrack, with a shot of a motorcycle riding up a set of steps and the scratchy screen cutting in with 'This March' written on it. There are then slow-motion clips of some action scenes in the film, such as a pavement-view shot of someone jumping from a high walkway to the ground, a motorcycle riding out of a building, people dancing in a club, the older brother punching a punch bag, a close up of black man yelling and spitting in a rowdy group of people and youths walking across a dark room with weapons in their hands. The slogan; 'There is one rule, kill or be killed' is slipped into this montage of epic, slow-motion action shots, to add to the suspense of the trailer as it builds and builds towards the climax.
There are then further clips of people dancing at a party, black males rapping and singing into a microphone, a male and female kissing, shots of rival gangs and then them running away. There is then a shot of a male shouting 'Junior!' and then fast paced shots of them opening the doors of a van and two youths fighting. It then introduces the characters, starting with the scratchy, blurred screen with names Adam Deacon, Ashley 'Bashy' Thomas, Kaya Scodelario and Kedar Williams-Stirling followed by a couple of clips of their characters. While the characters are being introduced, the tempo of the music is rising with a shrill sound effect and fast-paced drumming beat. The music then stops on a scene of Junior running in slow motion from a motorcycle, and a loud drum beat sound effect is used as each scene is cut quickly to another, getting quicker and quicker with the beats being used to emphasis punches and kicks, and finally to a clip of Junior running, which goes shaky and blurred and climaxes of the scratchy, jolted screen appearing with the film name and logo -'Shank'. The film slogan 'If you're not one of us, you're a victim' also appears on the blurred and wobbly screen with an ominous and lingering trill of sound dragging out, which jump cuts to a quick clip of a male throwing a punch at the camera with a loud punching sound effect, which then cuts to the scratchy screen with the film's release date and website on it.
I chose this trailer as a successful example of a good trailer as it features a lot of high-action clips which help build suspense and anticipation with out spoiling the main plot line. It gives you and idea of the plot, with the young boy seeking revenge for his brother's death, with the key them of gang violence and rivalry throughout. I think it is clever how they insert the screens which set the scene of London 2015 and give the audience bits of information, as well as slogans to go with the film. I like the use of effective music, and how the beats of the music match the cuts and actions in the film, e.g punches and kicks, especially towards the end as the pace gets faster, building suspense. I think the use of slow-motion for the fast-paced scenes is effective and the use of pathetic fallacy is also present as there is lack of colour and the weather is grey and dull, representing the mood of the characters and the bleak events of the film. The representation of common stereotypes and ideologies is also present in the trailer, for example the representation of youths and gangs, as well as representations of race. The use of dress codes and accents are also strongly important to create authenticity to the trailer and creating a realistic representation of youth culture in London. The way the characters dress and speak is vital to adding the mis-en-scene and the music chosen for the trailer also supports this 'feel' to it. I also like the way the film is promoted to their audience with the use of the young, British actors who are quite well known, as well as the hip-hop/grime/rap music and the theme of youth gangs and violence. These features would all target the teenage/young adult audience intended for the film.
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