Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Friday, 1 October 2010
3:10 to Yuma (2007) trailer analysis
Michael Gaines:
Below are notes I took when analysing the first minute of the trailer. Below this is the analysis itself. This link http://www.310toyumathefilm.com/ will direct you to the homepage of the 3:10 to Yuma film website, the trailer will play after a few of seconds.
Below are notes I took when analysing the first minute of the trailer. Below this is the analysis itself. This link http://www.310toyumathefilm.com/ will direct you to the homepage of the 3:10 to Yuma film website, the trailer will play after a few of seconds.
'The green screen “The following PREVIEW has been approved for ALL AUDIENCES by the motion picture association of America” is the first object we see. Drums (one hit) to reveal a man on horseback wearing a black hat and jacket (typical clothing for the leader of a gang of outlaws) looking down on a stagecoach on a path through the desert hills. Fade to LIONSGATE logo (with another hit of drums). Fade to black. Two hits of drums whilst we see a mid-shot of two men riding a stagecoach dressed in typical clothes of the time period, one holding a sawn-off shotgun. Cut edit to the view they see of the man on the horse, on a desert hill. Fade to black. Close-up of the back of a man lying down with a sniper rifle, looking down into the hills at the stagecoach. Drums, black screen, drums point-of-view shot of the stagecoach horses with around ten men on horses. (Fast editing). White screen cut edit to three men on horses; one having been shot is falling off of his horse.
More drums, mid-shot behind two men manning a Gatling gun looking out into the desert. Two more drum hits, cut edit to the back of the stagecoach, with men on horses pursuing, one (which appears to be the same man from before) is falling off of his horse. Cut to a black screen, cut to a man in black drawing his revolver (the close-up is below his neck and above his knees), cut to black screen. More drums cut to a shot of the same man firing his revolver. (This time we see from his waist up) Cut to white screen. Cut to black screen, cut to a shot of the man spinning his revolver on his fingers and placing it into his holster. More drums cut to a shot behind two silhouettes looking down on men around a crashed stagecoach. Drums cut to the man in black turning his head around towards the camera, with the wrecked stagecoach behind him, whilst some of (what appear to be) his gang, rob it. Cut to the men opening the case to reveal money inside.
Cut to the man now on horseback. From when the men open the case we hear a man say “Probably cheaper just to let me rob the damn thing” as it cuts to the man on horseback we see it is him speaking. A black screen with words, letter by letter, spelling “In a lawless land” the writing appears to zoom out. Bass guitar layers the shot. We now see the back of another man looking at the wrecked stagecoach. The Bass guitar continues to layer these shots as we cut to the man looking at the floor, raising his head to show his face as he does this a lawman rides up to him and says “See which way he rode Evans?” Behind him is are sands and hills. Cut to the man in black riding into a small town, Spanish guitar begins to layer these shots.
Cut to a shot of the man who was looking at the stagecoach looks up at the lawman saying “Heard he was heading to Brisby” cut to the man in black walking towards a saloon, with a number of men and women in the background. Black screen, the same style as before letters form the sentence “A land of heartless men”. Close-up of the man in black looking towards the camera, leaning over. A two shot shows the man in black turning to face a lawman. We hear a rifle being cocked and the lawman say “Hands up” as we see these two shots. Fade to black. Close-up on the hands of the man in black being shackled he appears mildly shocked.. Spanish guitar continues to play. We hear the law man say “22 robberies, over 400 cows and dollars in loses".'
The trailer begins with a green screen with white text. The purpose of this screen is to show the audience what is to come (a preview) as well as show the age rating (all audiences).
Throughout the trailer the use of the non-diegetic sound of drum hits is used to layer the cut edits, creating a sense of immediacy and dramatise the events occurring. Many black screen are put into place between certain shots. These are used to show the end of scene extracts in the trailer.
The lighting in the majority of the shots is natural. With little shade on the vast landscapes of the west, the light is particularly bright. This also helps with the realism of the shots. Another scene uses the light from oil lanterns inside the home of 'Dan Evans'. Other lighting used is that from fire. The fact that they are camping out in the wilderness and making fires, proves how well tuned men of that time were with nature and the wilderness.
The dialogue has elements humour in a number of places. For example after killing a number of men, destroying their stagecoach and wounding another the outlaw 'Ben Wade' says "Would've been cheaper just to let me rob the damn thing". The elements of humour lighten the films mood and give the audience more of an idea of the personalities and tendencies of the characters. Other dialogue is more serious and to-the-point, again representing certain characters in certain ways.
The majority of the sound in the trailer ,seems to be, diegetic. Despite this as mentioned before drum hits, as well as other various sounds, are non-diegetic. Music too, is layered over the top of a number of scenes, this is a convention of film trailers. The music is calm Spanish guitar, this instrument is likely to have been used as this was a popular instrument in the time period being portrayed. But could also have been used as a number of spaghetti westerns (named after being filmed in Italy) are filmed in Spain. Later electric guitar starts to play, with drums alongside, this is used when the content of the trailer becomes more about action than dialogue. It is used to quicken the pace of the trailer.
The shots and angles used vary much throughout the trailer. Low angled shots which show status and power on those in the shot. High angled shots can help when trying to show emptiness and loneliness. Tracking shots allows the viewer to focus on the character or object being tracked. Over the shoulder shots are conventionally used to show the relationship between two characters, this is the same for two-shots and group-shots. Establishing shots are used to show the landscape and show the viewer where the film is set. Close-ups are used to focus on one person, for any number of reasons. Having the name of the actor appear over a close-up of the character they play is conventional fro theatrical trailers. However as we are creating a teaser trailer we shall not include this. Finally the last shot of the films title being shown over a black screen is also conventional, and stays as the last thing in the viewers mind.
The iconography adds to the realism. The revolvers, Gatling guns, horses, stagecoaches are all conventional items/animals used extensively in America during the time period. This allows the viewer to accept what they are seeing as a reconstruction of an era, rather than another genre of film. Emotional realism is shown when we see facial expressions from characters in certain scenes, not only allowing the reader to connect and relate to the characters, this also creates the sense of reality.
Overall the trailer is conventional of a modern western and is very effective. We know this as on its opening weekend, the film grossed $14,035,033 and became number one on the U.S. and Canadian box office charts. The film grossed an estimated $53,606,916 in America and $16,409,304 in other territories adding up to a worldwide total of $70,016,220.
More drums, mid-shot behind two men manning a Gatling gun looking out into the desert. Two more drum hits, cut edit to the back of the stagecoach, with men on horses pursuing, one (which appears to be the same man from before) is falling off of his horse. Cut to a black screen, cut to a man in black drawing his revolver (the close-up is below his neck and above his knees), cut to black screen. More drums cut to a shot of the same man firing his revolver. (This time we see from his waist up) Cut to white screen. Cut to black screen, cut to a shot of the man spinning his revolver on his fingers and placing it into his holster. More drums cut to a shot behind two silhouettes looking down on men around a crashed stagecoach. Drums cut to the man in black turning his head around towards the camera, with the wrecked stagecoach behind him, whilst some of (what appear to be) his gang, rob it. Cut to the men opening the case to reveal money inside.
Cut to the man now on horseback. From when the men open the case we hear a man say “Probably cheaper just to let me rob the damn thing” as it cuts to the man on horseback we see it is him speaking. A black screen with words, letter by letter, spelling “In a lawless land” the writing appears to zoom out. Bass guitar layers the shot. We now see the back of another man looking at the wrecked stagecoach. The Bass guitar continues to layer these shots as we cut to the man looking at the floor, raising his head to show his face as he does this a lawman rides up to him and says “See which way he rode Evans?” Behind him is are sands and hills. Cut to the man in black riding into a small town, Spanish guitar begins to layer these shots.
Cut to a shot of the man who was looking at the stagecoach looks up at the lawman saying “Heard he was heading to Brisby” cut to the man in black walking towards a saloon, with a number of men and women in the background. Black screen, the same style as before letters form the sentence “A land of heartless men”. Close-up of the man in black looking towards the camera, leaning over. A two shot shows the man in black turning to face a lawman. We hear a rifle being cocked and the lawman say “Hands up” as we see these two shots. Fade to black. Close-up on the hands of the man in black being shackled he appears mildly shocked.. Spanish guitar continues to play. We hear the law man say “22 robberies, over 400 cows and dollars in loses".'
The trailer begins with a green screen with white text. The purpose of this screen is to show the audience what is to come (a preview) as well as show the age rating (all audiences).
Throughout the trailer the use of the non-diegetic sound of drum hits is used to layer the cut edits, creating a sense of immediacy and dramatise the events occurring. Many black screen are put into place between certain shots. These are used to show the end of scene extracts in the trailer.
The lighting in the majority of the shots is natural. With little shade on the vast landscapes of the west, the light is particularly bright. This also helps with the realism of the shots. Another scene uses the light from oil lanterns inside the home of 'Dan Evans'. Other lighting used is that from fire. The fact that they are camping out in the wilderness and making fires, proves how well tuned men of that time were with nature and the wilderness.
The dialogue has elements humour in a number of places. For example after killing a number of men, destroying their stagecoach and wounding another the outlaw 'Ben Wade' says "Would've been cheaper just to let me rob the damn thing". The elements of humour lighten the films mood and give the audience more of an idea of the personalities and tendencies of the characters. Other dialogue is more serious and to-the-point, again representing certain characters in certain ways.
The majority of the sound in the trailer ,seems to be, diegetic. Despite this as mentioned before drum hits, as well as other various sounds, are non-diegetic. Music too, is layered over the top of a number of scenes, this is a convention of film trailers. The music is calm Spanish guitar, this instrument is likely to have been used as this was a popular instrument in the time period being portrayed. But could also have been used as a number of spaghetti westerns (named after being filmed in Italy) are filmed in Spain. Later electric guitar starts to play, with drums alongside, this is used when the content of the trailer becomes more about action than dialogue. It is used to quicken the pace of the trailer.
The shots and angles used vary much throughout the trailer. Low angled shots which show status and power on those in the shot. High angled shots can help when trying to show emptiness and loneliness. Tracking shots allows the viewer to focus on the character or object being tracked. Over the shoulder shots are conventionally used to show the relationship between two characters, this is the same for two-shots and group-shots. Establishing shots are used to show the landscape and show the viewer where the film is set. Close-ups are used to focus on one person, for any number of reasons. Having the name of the actor appear over a close-up of the character they play is conventional fro theatrical trailers. However as we are creating a teaser trailer we shall not include this. Finally the last shot of the films title being shown over a black screen is also conventional, and stays as the last thing in the viewers mind.
The iconography adds to the realism. The revolvers, Gatling guns, horses, stagecoaches are all conventional items/animals used extensively in America during the time period. This allows the viewer to accept what they are seeing as a reconstruction of an era, rather than another genre of film. Emotional realism is shown when we see facial expressions from characters in certain scenes, not only allowing the reader to connect and relate to the characters, this also creates the sense of reality.
Overall the trailer is conventional of a modern western and is very effective. We know this as on its opening weekend, the film grossed $14,035,033 and became number one on the U.S. and Canadian box office charts. The film grossed an estimated $53,606,916 in America and $16,409,304 in other territories adding up to a worldwide total of $70,016,220.
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