10 March 2014

Evaluation Activity #1: Story & Genre


As previously mentioned, with our trailer we wanted to maintain a sense of ambiguity regarding the plot of our film, so as to further incentify viewers to watch the final product. Therefore, the trailer - while in a loose three-act structure - does not portray the events of the film chronologically and so audiences will not fully know what to expect with the finished film. Several shots throughout the trailer, such as the one above, are placed specifically to make the viewer question the symbolism and significance of the scene in relation to the rest of the film. This particular one, depicting both Nicholas Ashurst and Lee Davidson's characters in a sunset beach setting - which an out-of-use pier in the background - helps to foreshadow the darkness that shrouds the overall atmosphere of the trailer, acting as a sort of 'calm before the storm' as this is one of the final shots before the 'equilibrium' is broken, as with Todorov's Narrative Theory. Again, the trailer does adhere to narrative theories of structure such as Todorov's with the opening sequence before our studio logo representative of a state of normalcy - while the remainder of the trailer depicts the destruction of such state and the attempts to reinstate it, showcased through the final montage of action shots, though the final stage has been neglected to maintain the mystery of the film's ending. In regards to the narration of the trailer, this has been done (or will be since the final cut of the trailer is still to be uploaded) in a way that is not purely for expositional purposes but rather to establish the tone of the movie and further open up several enigmas as to the motives of the characters and the direction of the storyline. This also allows to disguise what is essentially a substantially generic action movie outline and present it as more distinctive and, thus, engrossing. Again the conventions of the genre are adhered to as by avoiding the exact nature of the narrative we are giving more time to focus on the action sequences of the film which are, of course, of the major draws.