AS/A2 Film Studies Blog: April 2013

How does El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) attract an Audience?

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Release Date: 2006

Poster:

The two other main characters are discreetly shown, merged into the backgroud of the poster

Genre is made obvious by the 'twistedess' of the poster - it is a dark fantasy film

Date of release show at the top
Less important information shown
Companies that the film is associated with are shown along the bottom
Main character is shown to look innocent and vulnerable, and she is surrounded by darkness and monsters

Trailer:

Film specifications are shown at the beginning (green background)
Production company is shown first
Narration of trailer, descibing film
Shots shown flow along with the narration
Explosions and war sequences are shown, showing violoence and war
'Young girl' and books with pictures - indicate some sort of fairytail, fanatasy film
Words used by narrator indicate fantasy 'escape' 'legend' 'lost soul of a princess'
Popularity of the film is shown 'Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival'
Non diegetic, spooky music is playing throughout
Main characters are introduced by showing quick shots of them, such as the Faun
The monster is only shown a couple of times for a maximum of 1 second, to raise tension and mystery
Title is shown at the end, in a 'creeping' way
Information is shown after the title, such as the release date and the website

How does Sightseers attract an audience?

Director: Ben Wheatley

Release Date: 2012

Poster:

Bright colours
Both characters clearly shown
Summaries of reviews by different media companies, showing their opinions and ratings
Big, bold yellow title
The director and executive producer are shown in yellow too, to show how they are renouned
Iconic landmark in background (Settle-Carlisle viaduct), which will give some of the audience an idea of the location
Many elements of comedy; such as the badge, the expression on the female character's face and the opinions of the reviewers
Obvious that it is a typically British film; the knitted jumpers and rolling hills in the background
The caravan next to the title gives away a small part of the film, as it has blood on it, implying death
The tagline also mentions killers
Both these points imply a twist in the plot
Dog in background, could add to comedy element
The poster sells the film mainly as a comedy film, there aren't many hints as to what happens
Website at the bottom
Contrasting expressions on the characters faces; he has a very stern, mysterious face, whereas she has a confused, comical face
This feature reflects the genre of the film; Black Comedy.

Trailer:

Starts off as a fairly light-hearted, bright film
Has some comedy aspects 'The caravan bed isn't very long, but Chris is a sensitive lover'
Main character is narrating at the beginning, as she reads a postcard
Very strong Norther accent - it is very obvious that this is a British film
Has a retro style to it - bold, 2D titles and 80's soundtrack
Unexpected twist midway through, as a murder is shown, although it still has a comedy effect
80's music comes in - it is very fitting with the style of film
Director is shown in bog bold yellow letters
As each character is shown, their names are in the same bold yellow text
Comedy is held throughout 'He's not a person Tina, he's a Daily Mail reader'
It would attract the audience because it features an unexpected plot in a familiar place - the quiet hills of Yorkshire, in ENGLAND, of all places.
Even though the characters commit murder, they are still seen as friendly characters, which holds up the light-heartedness of the film
At the end of the trailer, quotes from reviews are shown 'Hugely entertaining - hilarious', 'Works sublimely'
Even at the end of the trailer it is still being portrayed as a friendly film, even though it is quite obvious what the main characters do
Funny quote at the end 'Haha! Fuck you!'

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