The dark knight rises poster analysis

For this post I will be analysing the Dark knight rises poster released in the summer of 2012.

• First thing I notice when I look at the poster is the black setting and rain coming down. This suggests to me sadness and darkness almost like something bad is about to happen. 
• I then notice the title of the poster 'The legend ends' which easily links with the presumption that this will be the end of the film series, and by calling it the 'legend' ends hypes up the film even more and excites the audience.
• Another key feature of the poster is the broken batman mask which looks to be thrown on the floor, which again suggests something bad is going to happen and the legend is going to 'end'. Also comic fans would notice that bane (The character standing in the middle) is the only character known to 'break the bat'. 
• This poster was the first one to be released for the dark knight rises and as its quite obscure yet gives a lot of detail it was quite suitable as it interests the audience immediately. 
• Lastly at the bottom of the poster it says 'Summer 2012' telling the audience the release date however not giving any specifics therefore keeps the audience interested and intrigued to find out more. 

History of trailers

The first trailer to be shown in America was for the musical 'The pleasure seekers' on November 1913. Untill the late 1950's trailers consisted of key scenes from the film and included narration and text explaining the story line. Some trailers such as 'snow white and the seven dwarfs' consisted of the director/producer giving a small explination on their film. They also played the trailer at the end of the films, however this was soon changed due to people leaving when they came on.

In the 1960's trailers suddenly became more advanced using quick editing and montage trailers. Andre Kuehn was one of the first to introduce high contrast photography, fast paced editing and a provocative narration by the famous James Earl Jones. This was the first incarnation of this type of trailer which was to change trailers for good.

Gne with the wind 1939:

• Uses alot of various transitions
• Dominated by text
• Introduces each actor then tells us their character name
• A lot of jump cuts used

Casablanca 1942:

• Black and white
• Uses a lot of various transitions
• Jumps straight into the trailer
• Voice over/ commentry of film

Cinderella 1950:

• Only twenty eight seconds
• Animation
• Completely dominated by text
• Not many clips from the actual film

Psycho 1960:

• Full trailer featured director (Alfred Hitchcock)
• No clips of film
• Description of film from the director
• Tour around the set

Trailer terminology and Definition

A trailer is an advertisement for a film used to encourage people to watch it when its released. Depending on the genre of film, trailers can be aimed at many different age groups and specific film fanatics by using various methods to attract their attention. Every trailer is 2 minutes and 30 seconds maximum and within that they must explain some of the plot line, show clips from the actual film, introduce characters and actors and tell people the age and release date.

Codes and Conventions

The conventions of a film trailer are:

Graphic captions - To give the audiece information such as release dates, plots of the film
Reflective of genre - To see wether the right audience is attracted to the film
Non-diegetic music - assists the trailer on telling the audience what genre the film is
Narrative enigma - Explains some of the films plotline to the audience
Close ups - Show actors that take part in the film
Production company logo - To show people what company has produced the film
Editing - Exaggerates the genre of the film