Narrative Necessities

Many Crime/Thriller trailers have many necessities that must be employed in order to achieve their desired effect...

Introduction of the characters:

• This is extremely important and is often done in the first act of the film trailer as it is also a good way to setup the story. It is important for us to show the defining aspects of especially our main character as the audience will then be able to understand his actions later in the trailer. Similar to the first act of hummingbird, much importance is placed on Statham's character and how he develops and this is something that we think is extremely important to show as ultimately, our main character is carrying the story.

Moment of change (conflict, incident, issue) - beginning of Act 2?

• This moment of change occurs in almost every crime/thriller trailer, whereby some sort of incident, conflict, issue or even a prior powerful moment ends and the tone of the trailer often changes. A good example of this is in, 'gangster squad', whereby the long-held close up of Gary Oldman's characters face, followed by a sound boom at 0.23 seconds signifies a change in act and tone. This moment of change is a powerful tool, used in crime/thriller trailers as it is a good way to create an interest in the previous act, whilst at the same time, introduce the audience to the new characters.

 Examples of change in mood/act:
'Hummingbird' - 0.30 seconds
This is the moment when the tone changes in the trailer. Statham's character is having a shower, whilst at the same time, a voice over is employed in the style of a telephone voice message informing him that no one will be living in the apartment for a long period of time. The audience are aware that he is going to attempt to turn his life around at this point. This is a good example of sound mixed with visuals to suggest a change in tone and pace of the piece.
'Gangster Squad' - 0.23 seconds
The sound boom following the long close-up of Oldman's face also highlights a change in tone and also represents the start of Act 2. This is a good example of the use of sound to suggest a change in tone and pace.

Montage:

• Montage is used towards the end of every trailer, especially crime/thriller trailers to highlight their fast/paced action and adhere to the genre. It is often employed in a climatic style to bring the trailer to an end. We will definitely attempt to create an effect montage that both conveys the storyline and adheres to the fast/paced nature of the genre. Montage is a difficult effect to create and usually requires about 20-30 different shots all edited together in a smooth motion. We will have to think carefully about our choice off shots and locations in which to take these shots as we will not have the same privilege's as all big-budget producers and distributors for obvious reasons.   

MT