5 - Coursework Deconstruction

This is an a-level coursework trailer. I chose this trailer because I thought that the sound was really good and that the typography was interesting.

Sound

• The trailer starts with a narrative. It is a boy's voice over the top of what we are seeing. I think that this is effective because it is something different that we do not see very often. Also, I think it helps to give a mystery factor as we wonder who is talking.
• As this voice is over the video footage, we can not hear much diegetic sound.
• Behind the voice over is a quiet, non-diegetic tune. It consists of single notes, all of which are quite high. The fact that it is quite quiet and hidden behind the voice is a good effect as it adds to the mystery factor.
• The tune changes when the voice finishes speaking. The tune changes completely to a stringed instrument that begins slow. It then continues into an electric guitar that plays chords together, making a fast-paced tune that we would expect to hear in an action movie.
• This tune definitely has a good effect as it shows that the story-line of this film will be faced paced and action packed.

Mise en scene

• The blinds over the window in this shot are slightly diagonal, showing anxiety and that something is wrong.
• The blinds also help to make a barrier between us and the character we can see. This helps to show that the character is trapped.
• There are also two or three strings hanging behind the blinds, these help to show some tension because they contrast with the horizontal lines made by the blinds.
• Clearly, the dominant in this shot is the computer, the person that we can see is hardly visible. I think that this helps to show how unimportant the character in the shot may be because, if we cannot see them straight away and have to look, it shows that there are other things in this shot that are a lot more important.
• We can see that the person sitting on the computer is typing, but we cannot see exactly what they are typing. This helps to add a lot of mystery to the shot as we begin to question why we are not seeing what is written on the screen.

Lighting

• The lighting in this shot is very basic. It is mainly coming from artificial lights inside the room.
• However, the computer is also creating some light. 
• Though neither of these light sources highlight the character we can see and I think that this is quite interesting because it, again, degrades the person's importance.

Editing

• From this shot to the next, there is a jump cut. Just the same as from the previous shot to this shot.
• I think that this, though simple, works here because it helps to show that many different people are about to be affected by what's going to happen.
• It also helps to link the characters in one way or another, showing that even if they do not know each other now, the will do soon.

Mise en scene

• This is a really good shot because, although the boy on the right hand side of the screen is very close to the camera, he is not the dominant. The dominant is clearly the person in the mask behind him. 
• I think that this makes the shot more interesting because it scares us a little, makes us jump. It is unexpected and random.
• The boy's t-shirt is stripy, but the stripes are crumpled slightly. This shows that the peacefulness (created by the horizontal lines) is being disrupted, or will be soon.
• The white mask that we can see shows that someone is, clearly, trying to protect their identity. But it could also stand for the fact that someone is hiding what they really feel. A if they cannot show it on the outside as it may be wrong.

Lighting

• I really like the lighting in this shot, I think that it is really effective and well thought out.
• The lighting is mainly coming from the left hand side of the camera. This helps to create a shadow on the right side of the boy's face. The shadows also cover his eyes, cutting off any emotional connection between us and the character. 
• Apart from the mask, the rest of the shot is incredibly dark. This helps to illuminate the mask, bringing it even more into our focus.
• The mask is very bright. This is achieved by contrasting the colour with the pitch black background of the shot. By doing this, it is easy to see that the mask is supposed to be the dominant. 

Editing

• It looks like the part where the mask pops up has been made to play much faster than it originally should. This helps to add to the surprise element and makes us jump as it is not gradual.
• This helps to make the scene a lot more fast-paced too. It puts us on the edge of our seat.

Typography

I really like the typography at the end of this trailer because I think that it matches really well to the whole idea of the film.
The first shot, shows that the typography was uneven and odd. This adds an anxious element because the way the letters move makes us uneasy as our eyes are moving all over the place. This is a really good editing effect.
The angled letters are repeated in the second shot, again just carrying on with the uneasy feel of the whole trailer. Also, this one helps us to understand the name of the trailer. By simply using '5' instead of 'five', we are immediately shown that there will be no personal connection between the audience and the characters. 
Finally, I really like the use of the character pictures under the names because it helps to clarify things. However, I think that this is an area to be cautioned because it can be quite difficult to make it look good.