1. Further ideas
through 2 more film
studies
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Gone Girl (2014)
2. The Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo
This teaser trailer is fairly long in comparison to
a stereotypical one however it uses montage
editing in order to ensure that it doesn’t give too
much away. The use of such fast paced editing
is suggesting that the director wants to leave the
audience confused and baffled by the amount of
different scenes they have seen. However, the
audience can clearly recognise a main character
in the teaser trailer seeing as there is a variety of
shots with the character being focused on. The
fact that it is a famous actor may help to
intrigue the audience seeing as Daniel Craig is a
very popular actor and likely to have a lot of
fans through the popularity of the James Bond
films.
• Use of montage editing
• Low key lighting
• Repetitive scenes of the surroundings
• Repetitive scenes of Daniel Craig
• Use of guns and action
• Close ups
• Low key lighting
• Car chase
• Female character introduced but only in low
key lighting- keeping it a mystery?
• Hooded costumes
3. Shot 1 analysis
This shot is shown many times as there is build up
and tension built in the teaser trailer through the use
of montage and sound. In total, I counted seeing this
same shot and scene 5 times. The use of repetition
informs the audience that this is a significant scene
and the season may also be an important part also.
The line of trees with the track in between makes the
audience question what is at the end of it. This
therefore links to the genre of mystery and crime
seeing as the audience have no knowledge of what the
storyline is about at this point. The use of a long shot
also helps the audience to familiarise them with the
certain scene and give them a clue as to where the
film is shot and based. The use of camera movement
as they slowly move down the track causes suspense
seeing as the audience don’t know what is at the end
of the track.
• Extreme long shot
• Low key lighting
• Silhouetted- eerie
• Repetitive scene- same scene
shown in the build up of the
trailer 5 times
• Camera movement- as if
driving down the track
4. Shot 2 analysis
I really liked this clip because it informs the
audience that there is a crime idea to the film. The
old fashioned styled photos suggest that there is
some sort of ongoing mystery in the storyline of the
film. The fact that a close up is used also suggests
the importance of this shot. The hand in the still shot
also puts the other photo close to the other three
suggesting that there is a link between the four
photos. The angle of the shot makes the audience
feel like they're receiving this point of view from one
of the detectives in the film. This therefore helps the
audience to feel included in the mystery of the
storyline. The use of low key lighting in this shot
also helps to inform the audience that the
information could be confidential or there is an idea
of secrecy.
• Close up
• From character’s point of view
• Photos- mystery
• Photos are old fashioned and put
together- are they related?
• Low key lighting- confidential and
secretive?
5. Shot 3 analysis
The mid-close up shot of this character is very
conventional to the genre seeing as they are hooded
and wearing black. The audience will assume that this
is a criminal sort of character. The audience may be
able to assume that the storyline is based around this
character seeing as she is shown in many clips from
half way through in the teaser (the director held back
introducing this character at the beginning possibly to
keep some mystery.) The idea that the character also
has hair covering her face shows insecurity.
Furthermore, the colour theme in this shot is very dull
which supports this idea and makes the audience feel
like there is something dark in the film that is yet to
be revealed. The still shot films to character as she
turns away from the camera which is also something
we could use in our trailer to show insecurity and
maintain the idea of mystery.
• No colours- dull shot- mood?
• Hooded character- not giving much
away, suggesting of crime
• Female- stereotypical?
• Black- not want to be seen
• Close up- important character
• Still camera as she turns around to
hide from camera
6. Poster analysis
The red dragon- significant
meaning. Red signifies danger-
something we can use to help
determine the storyline in our
poster.
Face of the main character
however not fully revealed.
Suggests a insecure and
mysterious personality. Hidden
behind darkness suggests she
may be a bad character? This is
something we could experiment
with to make our main character
seem guilty to help reveal our
storyline.
Bigger and bolder font for the
significant parts of the title to
help the audience understand
what the film is about.
Significant object
makes a big
statement on the
poster.
May encourage people to read
the book before seeing the film
or attract readers who have
read the book already- a good
way of attracting certain
audiences.
Faded objects difficult to
see, similar to the fade in
and out transitions used in
the trailer at times.
Continues the idea of
mystery.
Dark colour theme of black and red which is also used in the teaser
trailer- darkness and predicted danger in the film. A good way of
making the atmosphere feel tense and mysterious- something we could
use in ours to hold back certain parts of information. Having an almost
overlapping effect could suggest there are different sides or
interpretations to the storyline.
May encourage people to
see the website to find out
more about the film.
Will inform people that the film
is a thriller and 5 stars
encourages people that the film
is worth watching- a good idea
in advertisement which can be
persuading.
7. Gone Girl
• Use of montage editing
• Pace gets faster as tension is built
• Continuous use of low key lighting and night time
scenes
• News scenes
• Shouting scenes to build suspense
• Use of jump cuts to exaggerate certain characters
and ideas
• Eye line matched shots
• Straight cut transitions throughout
• Short clips of continuity editing to see things from
character’s point of view.
• Police scenes
Although I have briefly looked at Gone Girl
already, I felt like this is a good film to focus on
because it contains some different ideas and
relates more than others to the focused genre for
our teaser trailer. I like the way that the pace
increases in the teaser trailer as the tension and
suspense is built through faster editing and
straight cuts, and also more intense scenes like
busy news scenes or chaotic arguments between
the main characters. The main characters are made
clear seeing as they are shown more than other
characters. Some shots are used in continuity
editing and eye line match so the audience see’s
certain interpretations from both the male
character and female character. The police and
news scenes are very stereotypical and so the
audience can easily recognise the film as a crime
focused thriller.
8. Shot 1 analysis
This shot which is one at the beginning of the trailer,
therefore informs the audience that she is one of the main
characters. The scene before is the husband explaining how
she has gone missing, and this clip has a soundtrack over
the top of it which clearly suggests the wife is innocent.
However, the audience may question this sympathetic shot
because of the low key lighting and the mystery seeing as
nothing else is revealed about the storyline. You could also
suggest that the character looking at the camera could be
because she is reaching out for help and the director wanted
the audience to feel included and feel sorry for the main
character, or she is coming across as a little intimidating
and uncomfortable with her staring at the audience in the
close up. I like the ideas that the director has used here to
leave more than one message in the audience’s head and I
will therefore suggest to the group that using a shot like this
one may help us to make the audience feel uncomfortable
to go along with our thriller themed teaser trailer.
• Close up
• Character looking at the
audience- intimidation?
• Still shot of female turning
towards camera- looking for
help or sympathy?
• Filmed at night- low key
lighting
• The backing track suggests she
is an innocent character as
husband explains before how
she disappeared
9. Shot 2 analysis
I found these shots interesting because I liked the
use of the jump cut between them. In between the 2
shots there was another shot of the female
character, but the repetition of this scene build
suspense by zooming towards the character in the
second shot a bit. This linked to the psychological
theme to the film. It also helped to build suspense
also and I liked this idea of editing. This is
something that we will certainly consider in our
film. They are often also used in horrors to build
tension. The lyrics in the soundtrack as they run
over these clips are “regret” and “the price I have
to pay” which the director may have done
intentionally to suggest to the audience that the
lady may not be as innocent as people think. The
long shot of this character in his home setting also
helps the audience to familiarise themselves with
him further. • Jump cuts (but clip in-between these)
• Stereotypical home setting
• Shadowed low key lighting.
• Long shot of main character
• Lyrics of the song “A trace of pleasure or
regret,
May be my treasure or
The price I have to pay”
10. Shot 3 analysis
I felt like this shot was a good one to look at because
we have not yet looked at how we will end our teaser
trailer off. I like the use of the extreme long shot,
seeing as this is something that is stereotypically used
as an introduction to a film at the beginning to inform
the audience of where the film is set and filmed. The
fade in transition also slows the pace of the teaser
trailer and therefore helps to leave the trailer on a
cliff-hanger seeing as they left the trailer in chaos
using fast paced editing and montage. The plain font
used for the title also helps to leave mystery about the
storyline and therefore could continue to build on the
idea of suspense. The voiceover used at the end of the
teaser is the male saying “I did not kill my wife. I am
not a murderer.” this leaves the audience questioning
whether he is guilty or not. This is something we will
consider in our teaser seeing as we also want the
audience to question if our main character is guilty or
not in our focused crime.
• Extreme long shot
• Fade in and out transition
• Title- plain font
• Voiceover- “I didn’t kill my wife.
I am not a murderer.”
• Moving boat in the back ground-
peaceful scene
• Sun is rising- suggesting
something about the end of the
film?
11. Poster analysis
Having the female at the front of
the poster and showing her
slightly bigger suggests
dominance which isn’t very
stereotypical in a relationship.
This may be a way to create
mystery- using something non-
stereotypical.
Title covered by clouds. Makes
audience question whether she is dead
(in the clouds?) or is she? Using
something like this would help us to
make the audience question whether
she is gone or not. If we called ours
Guilty, we could use a fading affect so
the audience could be urged to
question whether our main character is
or not.
Continuing the idea of low key
lighting, however the bit of sun on
the bottom left which is reflected
off of the female could suggest a
light at the end of the film?
Use of suspicious facial
expressions as he looks at the
female- what does he know that
the audience don’t?
The fact that the female isn’t
wearing very much could either
suggest that she is a vulnerable
character or she is exposed. This
is something we could use in our
film- we could use it to make our
main character look vulnerable
and possibly guilty…?
