Shutter Island (2010)
Conventions used in the film trailer for ‘Shutter Island’ are that the two main leads are male and are partners, both playing the stereotypes of the experienced, snarky Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who has a dark past and the younger rookie Chuck Aule (played by Mark Ruffalo). Much like the previous trailers I’ve analysed, this trailer is using star power in order to attract the audience (since both Ruffalo and DiCaprio are incredibly popular actors). The antagonist is heavily implied to be Ben Kingsley’s character due to his appearance (his shaven head makes him appear intimidating), cryptic nature and the fact that in most thrillers, psychiatrists are often portrayed to be evil and/or untrustworthy (a prime example of this trope is Anthony Hopkins’ character Hannibal Lector from ‘The Silence of the Lambs’). There is also a lack of women in the film; the only ones we see are minor characters (E.g. two female inmates as well as glimpses of another woman and a young girl) This helps to establish that the world in Shutter Island is male dominated, therefore suggesting that the film’s target audience is mostly men.
The mise en scene for this trailer is different to both Se7en and Zodiac because instead of the settings being city streets/crime scenes, it is all one location; an asylum. However despite this is appears to have a variety of areas (E.g. the entrance, an interrogation room, a dining room, dark hallways and prison cells). Most of the lighting is low key and the colours are dull and dreary. The costumes clearly set the protagonists/antagonists apart from the rest of the characters, with the main leads wearing long brown trench coats and fedoras (stereotypical for ‘detective’ characters) along with the antagonist wearing a full suit and bowtie (which ties in with the trope of villains always dressing professionally, examples of this would be the ones from the James Bond franchise). Meanwhile the background characters are dressed in what appears to be sleepwear (E.g. dressing gowns).
Editing varies between quick cuts and fades to black throughout (though during the beginning there is slow motion when the two protagonists enter the asylum), syncing with the dramatic 'boom' sounds and the music (which initially starts off as slow and eerie but switches to fast paced around 1 minute 6 seconds, somewhat resembling a ticking clock). Sounds include a sound bridge where one of the inmates goes 'shhh' to one of the protagonists and an amplified gunshot followed by a scream. There is also voiceovers of the dialogue between the characters (alternating between matching and not matching with the scenes).
Nightcrawler (2014)
While the settings (E.g. city streets/highways, crime scenes and a news station) and uses of fast cuts are similar to both the trailers for Se7en and Zodiac, in regards to the main character Lou Bloom (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) he is not very stereotypical. For instance he is not a cop trying to solve a crime but rather a stringer who does morally questionable things (E.g. filming live accidents/crimes without permission, arriving at crime scenes before the police and endangering his partner whilst driving) in order to make a living. He also seems to be mentally unstable, since we see him in one scene towards the end screaming at himself whilst looking at a mirror. This makes him more of an antagonist instead of a protagonist since he only seems to care for himself, while most protagonists are selfless. Another difference from the other trailers (including Shutter Island) is that there are women with major roles, a news director (played by Rene Russo) and a detective (played by Michael Hyatt).
The music is split into three parts, the first being the slow, repetitive piano notes at the beginning which only lasts up to 27 seconds before switching to the louder, electric rock. Later towards the end it changes to the haunting song 'I'd Love to Change the World' by Jetta. This gives the audience a subtle hint that not all is quite right with the main character in regards to both his personality and psyche. All these different types of music seem to represent the protagonist's growth; he starts off as an eager but unlucky man (E.g. always getting turned down when he asks for work) before transitioning into a controlling and manipulative individual (E.g. making sarcastic remarks whilst being interrogated).
Most of the camerawork is panning and close-ups (common thriller tropes) in order to establish the world/setting (which is modern day Los Angeles) and characters for the audience, much like what the trailers for Se7en and Zodiac did.
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