Roland Barthes (Enigma Code)

The Enigma Code is a theory by theorist Roland Barthes which suggests that a text (whether that be television, film, a poster etc) has a mystery which helps to attract the audience and make them more intrigued in the piece. It makes them ask questions regarding the text. For example in Thriller films or mysteries the question the audience may be wanting to know the answer to could be 'who committed the crime'.
Our trailer has elements of Barthes enigma theory as it is never revealed to the audience whether or not our main protagonist fulfills her dreams of art or stays at home with her abusive father.
This factor makes our trailer have an aspect of mystery which can lead to the audience becoming more intrigued in our product.

The Kuleshov Effect applied to our Trailer

The Kuleshov Effect is a film editing montage effect demonstrated by Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s. It is the process of taking a single shot of one thing (e.g. a man's face) and placing a variety of shots after it. Kuleshov used the experiment to indicate the usefulness and effectiveness of film editing.
Below is a video of the Kuleshov Effect in action.

The Kuleshov effect can be applied to our teaser trailer as there are certain instances where we have used editing to create a certain idea without actually showing it literally. For example, when the main female is sitting on the bed with the male and he says "have you not done this before" we instantly assume that he is talking about sex, despite actually seeing any sexual references. Purely because it is a male and a female sitting on a bed the audience think it is about sex. Additionally, when we see the medium shot of the father walking towards the screen with the belt in his hand, we automatically assume he is going to use it in a violent way on his daughter. This effect is useful as we can inform the audience of what  is happening without actually having to show it visually.

Depression

The father character in our trailer is going to be effected by depression. This will create another sense of sympathy for our main character, as she will be a young carer.

Through our research into depression, we found that this was not a topic easily used in films as it is quite hard to address and sad to watch. However, we will be using this in our trailer to provoke sympathy for our main character, and thus giving her an explanation as to why she turns to drugs and alcohol.

The main symptoms of depression are:

- Mood Swings
- Self harm
- Isolation- father finding it hard to get out of bed
- Angry outbursts - we will show father shouting at the girl


We hope to create a character in our trailer that will mimic the kind of frustration and sadness that someone in a real life situation feels, and can relate to.

An example of depression being used in film is 'Sylvia' released in 2003. The character sinks deeper and deeper into emotional isolation and emptiness, especially after her partner leaves her for another woman.

Stereotypes and Depicting our Teenage Character

'Most common words used to describe young people in British newspapers in 2008 were yobs, thugs, sick, feral, hoodie, louts, evil, frightening and scum.'

The 'Chav' Phenomenon

Many people would say that there has been many developments in the terminology used to refer to the working class in society, and that these have become more negative and non-constructive recently because of some media objects. This 'chav' phenomenon has begun as we think of what the working class of the twentieth century was like (hard working) and we then look at our current 'underclass' as some may say, and these have become this character. 

Many would associate this 'chav' style as to a relevance to Vicky Pollard from the comedy sketch, Little Britain. This would include the stereotypical sportswear, and big gold jewellery. This comedic aspect to chavs in the UK is showing that there is more liability now in naming a person a 'chav'. The constant comedy of being a chav as well, such as Catherine Tate means that people are more aware and are now naming this style as this phenomenon, which many would say is increasing judgemental society. 

From a BBC interview with Kate Jarvis, who plays Mia in Fish Tank: 

Teens are often portrayed as a patronizing way on screen, especially 'working class' kids. But Fish Tank feels different. Were you wary at first though?

"I think all teenagers are different. This film was shot in Essex which everyone knows has got this bad reputation, but I really do think there are certain areas of Essex that are really nice. And, like everywhere, there might be some kids who act like the media are portraying them to be, but there are others who are completely different... All teenagers are different and they're not all bad, like hoodies just wanting to go out and make trouble..."

Rose Tyler from Doctor Who is a good character we want to use as influence as she is from a working class background. (click on her photo to see a YouTube video which we think depicts her character well). Although she is from a sci-fi television show, we think that she depicts and physically shows what we want our main character to be like. 

Kelly from Misfits is also a good example of what we want our character to be portrayed as. (click on photo for character profile).

Research into Rebellion

We felt that we should research further into the subject of rebellion and we have devised this survey to help us gather the opinion of teenagers on Rebellion.

After we have gathered enough research we will analyse how we can use this in our trailer.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZZVKG6M

Representation Theory

Social Realists use the Reflective theory which is the idea that what you are watching is exactly how it is in real life. They are social 'REAL'isms (the clues in the name). Despite this, Staurt Hall said that you can't expect everyone to depict the same message as the creator intended. In relation to the Social Realism 'Fish Tank', this is set in a council estate and deals with common issues related to living in working class area; such as little money, poor conditions and living off benefits. Fish Tank RE-presents the stereotypical view of working class estate living.
Furthermore, the constructivist theory (discursive) deals with issues of power and knowledge. This suggests that the audience will react differently depending on their culture, beliefs and the way they have been brought up. For example; if a Working Class person living on a council estate watches Fish Tank they may be offended, while someone from a Middle Class background may find it amusing. These theories are all relevant within Social Realists.

Narrative Theory

Social Realist films usually use the narrative structure that Levis-Strauss' binary opposition theory proposes. For example, in the Social Realism 'Fish Tank' there is conflict between the opposite characters of the main girl and her mother as they both want complete different things in life. The mother had children at a young age and lives off benefits, while the daughter wants to break free from the usually 'council estate' life. Also, between the girl and the other girls on the estate as they are complete opposites; the main girl wants more out of life than the other girls who only care about being attractive to men and following the lives of celebrities.



Another narrative theory useful to use in our trailer is Barthes Enigma Codes. Social Realist films almost always have open narratives to emphasise how unpredictable real life. In the Fish Tank trailer, there are so many different possibilities to how the story plans out as so many mysteries are built; for example when the main girl gets grabbed by a group of men it is hard to depict what is going to happen exactly.

Social Realism In British Film

Social Realism in film began in the 1930s, they started by showing documentary films, this was first established by the director John Grierson who created films such as 'Drifters' and Industrial Britain. He decided in these films to show and give everyone an insight into the various careers and also the people behind those jobs. 

Social realism became most successful during the 1960s, this was when a new style of film was made known as, 'British New Wave' and to this day has influenced British film ever since. British New Wave is style of film which displays real life stories and subjects, they tend to be about how harsh the reality of working class Britain is. The stories they tell tend to be about peoples everyday struggle, trying to endure life in working class societies. The setting for social realist films is usually in run down urban areas.

The idea of social realist film began to develop in to something known as the 'kitchen sink' dramas, they were often referred to as 'angry young men' films. This was mainly due to to the focus of the films being on the social and economic problems a young male would endure in a working class societies. They established a male protagonist who attempted to escape society through the use of alcohol, sex, money and drugs. At this time there were many directors coming though who were creating social realist film, a few of these being Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson who were directors of the films 'This Sporting Life' and 'if....'.

Tony Richardson was a director most known or his work during the 1960s, he was a part of the 'free cinema', this was the practice of putting ordinary people with problems on to the big screen. This made the films he made seem more realistic as the featured actors weren't famous, they were merely just normal people. He is and example of a director that has adapted his films from types of literature and theatre which were full of social realism. One of his most famous films being 'A Taste of Honey' which was originally a play.

The early social realist films have largely influenced the film industry to this very day, and the films being made are still based upon the constant struggle in working class societies. The films, Ratcatcher, Billy Elliot and This is England are all modern day examples of the traditional social realist film, based around the working class communities attempt to survive at the bottom of the social hierarchy. 

Conventions of Social Realism Films

-Social Realism films usually depict working class activites as heroic, therefore are commonly set in council estates and run down areas.

-The actors and actresses used in these films are usually unknown so when the audience watches it they do not have a opinion or knowledge of them, therefore it is easier to believe that they are a nobody, making the film more successful as they fit to their character.

-There is also a lack of flashy edits to make it look more realistic, as well as the sound being mostly diegetic to emphasise the realistic aspect of the film.



We will use these conventions as a tool for our trailer. We have seen that these social realisms are usually very hard-hitting and therefore we need to reflect this aspect of the genre in our trailer.

Conventions of a Teaser Trailer

Comparison of a Teaser and a Theatrical Trailer



Here is our table we did about the differences in a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer. It is important that we had analysed the differences in the different trailers so that we had a clear list of the codes and conventions of a teaser trailer.

Sound



When thinking about the sound and music in a teaser trailer, we usually hear dialogue from the feature film. This helps us familiarse ourselves with the main protagonists in a film already, simply from a small part of their speech. However, sometimes there is no dialogue from the film to create mystery and some would say that with a soundtrack it gives more of the genre and mood of the film than with the dialogue. A teaser trailer is not supposed to give away too much information, but more to inform the viewer of the main points and a brief overview of the storyline.

Content

There is a lot less detail in a teaser trailer than in a theatrical trailer. The detail is more along the lines of small snippits of the film and maybe, if a comedy for example, some key lines that will amuse the viewer. There is also a lot more symbolism used in the teaser, as again this is to keep a certain sense of mystery with the film. There are plenty of captions and often text is shown on the screen to help move the story and give clues about what is going to happen.

Editing

The editing of the trailer is key for a teaser trailer as it is a lot shorter than a theatrical trailer. This means that a lot more has to fit into the teaser trailer than a theatrical trailer, and therefore there is a faster pace in general with teaser trailers. This is made by plenty of cuts and really quick shots of certain key scenes that make the film and the genre, and gives a sense of excitement with a trailer. This will be key in our Social Realism as it is important that the viewer engages with the genre and the pace of the film and therefore want to watch it.

Anchorage

The main thing which a teaser trailer has not got which is a theatrical trailer does have, are exact dates of release. The whole idea of a teaser trailer is to not give away information and to keep the viewers guessing and excited about the forth-coming release of the film. There are lots of slogans and text which also are a key convention of a teaser and this helps the movie feel more promoted.


From our research, we can now clearly see what a teaser trailer encorporates and this will help us when designing what we will include in our one. It is interesting to explore the content and the pace of what a teaser trailer usually is, and this will be included in our one as well.