How is genre shown in trailers?
Genre is shown through iconography and semiotics, for example a trailer for a film in the horror genre is likely to use a dark colour palette, include sharp knives and have tense music. Whereas, a romance would have a much lighter colour palette with light pinks, yellows or light blues and the music would be more upbeat, creating a much lighter feel.
Trailer examples:
Interstellar
This is the trailer for Interstellar a 2016 Sci-fi film which is mainly set in space, however the trailer makes the audience believe it will be primarily based on earth. This Trailer is a good example of how film makers can use the trailer to attract lots of audiences to a film that they may not have otherwise gone to see, for example up until right at the end it is not clear what genre the film will be with genres such as horror, crime, family drama and others coming into thought, therefore the differing audiences will look at the trailer and think it may be about crime or family drama and decide to watch the film. It is then obvious right at the end of the trailer that the film will be a sci-fi film.
Below is a timeline of the trailer above and the different points in which different genres may have been suggested:
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Teaser Trailer)
Above is the teaser trailer for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which comes under the thriller/mystery/crime genre. Throughout the trailer it is completely apparent that the film is a crime thriller however several other genres a possibly suggested. Drama is suggested when there is a shot of a sick man and action at the beginning when there are fast cuts and further on when there is a motorbike shot.
During the trailer there are many signifiers that indicate the thriller genre. These are some that we found:
- Pale mask/face
- Dark colours
- Tense Music
- Night time
- Running through woods
- Struggling body/naked
- Fast/sudden editing
- CCTV footage
- Motorbike
- Gun
- Isolation
All of these signifiers helped to convey the main themes of thrillers; suspense, isolation and mystery.
Below is the timeline for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo teaser trailer:
