Here is the link to the Taken trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPJVJBm9TPA
Taken is a crime thriller and stars the famous actor- Liam Neeson. I have previously looked at Taken 2 during the research of my AS coursework, and found it very interesting to write about.
The trailer begins with Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) who is our protagonist. We
see a medium shot of himself coming out of the car with a large present in his hand. We then hear diegetically "Dad!" and the camera shows a teenage girl wearing a dress and goes to hug Bryan. This immediately suggests to the audience that there is a strong father, daughter relationship, which conjures up feelings of comfort and warmth to the audience. This can be further interpreted through the use of editing in the trailer. When Kim and her dad hug, slow motion is used. This suggests that there is a strong bond and connection between Kim and her father, which triggers of prevalence and sympathy towards both of them. Through a dissolve, the audience is presented with a short scene of Kim and her dad in a restaurant eating ice cream. This type of setting is seen as relaxed and seen as childish, which again creates a sense of vulnerability towards Kim. Kim diegetically states "Dad guess what?" To which Bryan responds "what?" "Amanda has tickets to Paris and i really want to go!" While she is saying this,montage clips of her and Amanda are shown in slow motion to the audience. This suggests that her and Amanda have a strong friendship and are excited to go and visit Paris. Meanwhile, Kim's mum is at the airport taking photographs of them before they leave. Again, this shows the strong bond and connection that they have between Kim and her parents. The girls are both wearing normal,everyday clothes such as jeans and jackets. This suggests that they are ordinary girls that shouldn't be seen different from anyone else. Next, we see an establishing shot of Paris, this is effective as it helps to set the scene and invite the audience into a new location. Paris is known as "The city of love" which would automatically make the audience feel comfort and at ease as Paris is seen as a laid back area. We then see abrupt flashes of "20th century fox" and then a flash back to Bryan taking a photograph of her daughter before they left to go to Paris, and then a flash again to a plane setting off at an airport. This fast pace editing almost shows the audience a quick memory of Kim's from where she left to where she is now, which suggests a sense of traveliing to the audience. It also makes it clear that Kim was allowed to go to Paris with her best friend, which creates tension as the girls are young and on their own in a large city.
Through a cross cut, the screen turns black, and the camera pans into Kim's bag where we can hear her phone ringing. We then flash back to her Dad on the phone, which suggests that Bryan is ringing her daughter to ensure that she got their safely. At this point, the music dramatically changed, to lower and thud like sounds. The thud like sounds could be seen to sound like a heart beating. This effectively creates suspense and tension towards the audience to make them assume that something bad is about to happen. Kim answers the phone and says "Hi daddy". This type of language can be see as slightly childish, as teenagers at 17 have connotations with being careless, lazy and independent and calling someone "Daddy" will make the audience feel sympathy for her and stereotype her to be seen as innocent. While Kim is on the phone, we see short flashes with a close up shot of two men's black boots. Black connotes danger,mystery,evil and power which immediately strikes emotions of suspense and terror to the audience. We then see a close up shot of Kim looking out the window towards the other side of the room where her friend Amanda is. The close up shot is effective,as we can see Kim's facial expressions, in which her face starts to look scared and confused. The director (Pierre Morel) has cleverly worked this part of the trailer, where he has shown Kim's facial expressions before the audience can see whats actually happening. Its an effective way to draw the audience in so that they can feel the suspense of what is going on in the scene, and what to expect from the whole film .
Next, the tension of the trailer sets in, and the screen is split into three sections. On the left side, we can see Kim on the phone to her dad in a close up shot. She is looking at Amanda (her friend) and diegetically saying "Oh my god they got Amanda!" The use of the emphasise on "Oh my god" explains to the audience how stressed and scared Kim is, especially if she gets -"taken". On the right of the screen, we see Bryan on the phone to Kim. He looks worried and apprehensive of what might happen to his daughter. He states diegetically "Kim,Kim listen to me!" the use of him repeating his daughters name suggests that Kim is panicking down the phone and making a lot of noise. Due to Bryan's experience and knowledge in the CIA, it is clear that he is trying to calm his daughter down, to avoid negative impacts. He carries on to tell Kim to go into the bedroom and hide under the bed. The camera pans around Kim and follows her every movement. Through editing, fast pace cross cuts are used to show Kim running, then shows her feet in a close up and finally shows an extreme close up shot of her under the bed, still on the phone to her dad. The fast pace editing is effective in creating suspense to the audience. It almost resembles how Kim is feeling. She would be frightened and scared of getting caught, therefore the fast pace movements almost makes the audience feel part of all the action so they can really experience how Kim is feeling. Also, this part of the trailer gives Kim prevalence in the seen, which makes the audience sympathise with her.
The soundtrack at this moment is very effective in enhancing the suspension and terror of this scene. Ultimately, this part of the film could be seen as the most important, purely because this is where Kim actually becomes abducted. The director has cleverly worked the sound levels in this scene, from fluctuating from high pitched music, all the way down to low. The music is a violin sound, and becomes extremely high pitched to the point where its almost painful to listen too. This creates tension towards the audience, as it sounds like the music cannot go any louder, and therefore is about to drop. When music suddenly drops it indicates that something negative is about to happen. The music does drop, and the sound effect of a "thud" is placed in when Kim is dragged out from under the bed. The onomatopoeia of the "thud" makes the audience actually obtain what has actually happened, and almost snaps them back to reality that a young girl has actually been abducted. Once Kim has actually been removed from the scene, the music changes to a piano. Piano's conjure up emotions of sadness, which again shows the audience the negative and upsetting impact this has had on Kim's relatives. We see a close up of a sound machine/radio and heavy breathing coming from it. This heavy breathing creates suspense, as the audience cannot see who the breathing is coming from. Its already been indicated that whoever these people are, they are not likable people, thus it creates a sense of mystery and doubt towards the audience which will engage them even more. Having the idea of mystery and a "who done it" typed scenario is a successful way to make audiences go and watch the film. Including it in the trailer, will make audiences want to find out what has happened to the unfortunate girl, and the only way they can is to go and watch the film. I feel that this part of the trailer has been done well, and cleverly planned out to get the optimum impact possible.
The next part of the trailer, is possibly one of the most iconic and memorable parts of the whole film, and takes up the majority of the trailer. Bryan is on the end of the phone to an unknown individual. Bryan is fully aware that they have taken his daughter, and quotes this through the phone to this individual:
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you."
This sentence is effective, as it almost suggests that no footage is actually needed, as it speaks more than what it portrays. The sentence shows that Bryan is willing to do whatever it takes to get his daughter back, even if it means killing other people, or even getting himself killed. Its clear that Bryan is fully equipped and able to fight people, due to the reference of his long career. The end utterance is possibly the most important, The repetition of "you" suggests that this individual is not worthy of being named and is therefore catagorised as a person, not by their name. All of this, is filmed in a close up shot. This is possibly the most effective way to film this part, as the audience can see all of Bryan's facial expressions. It engages the audience too, as the closer the audience are to an individual, the more they can relate to that character. After this, we hear a long pause, which again creates tension and suspense, as the audience haven't seen the person on the end of the phone, or heard of them, again, creating this idea of mystery. After a 3 second pause, in a deep and manly voice we hear "good luck..." being said. This then suggests that the individual on the other end of the phone doesn't care about what Bryan has said, making this person be portrayed as a careless and dangerous individual. After this, the phone makes the sound of when it has been hung up, and then "TAKEN" is blasted onto the screen. This is a very effective way in making the audience be fully engaged with the trailer. It makes them want to go and watch the film so that they can find out who took Kim, and if she will be found.
I feel that this trailer is one of the best iv'e ever seen. I feel that it engages the audience so well, through the music and the violent and extreme footage shown.
Next, the tension of the trailer sets in, and the screen is split into three sections. On the left side, we can see Kim on the phone to her dad in a close up shot. She is looking at Amanda (her friend) and diegetically saying "Oh my god they got Amanda!" The use of the emphasise on "Oh my god" explains to the audience how stressed and scared Kim is, especially if she gets -"taken". On the right of the screen, we see Bryan on the phone to Kim. He looks worried and apprehensive of what might happen to his daughter. He states diegetically "Kim,Kim listen to me!" the use of him repeating his daughters name suggests that Kim is panicking down the phone and making a lot of noise. Due to Bryan's experience and knowledge in the CIA, it is clear that he is trying to calm his daughter down, to avoid negative impacts. He carries on to tell Kim to go into the bedroom and hide under the bed. The camera pans around Kim and follows her every movement. Through editing, fast pace cross cuts are used to show Kim running, then shows her feet in a close up and finally shows an extreme close up shot of her under the bed, still on the phone to her dad. The fast pace editing is effective in creating suspense to the audience. It almost resembles how Kim is feeling. She would be frightened and scared of getting caught, therefore the fast pace movements almost makes the audience feel part of all the action so they can really experience how Kim is feeling. Also, this part of the trailer gives Kim prevalence in the seen, which makes the audience sympathise with her.
The soundtrack at this moment is very effective in enhancing the suspension and terror of this scene. Ultimately, this part of the film could be seen as the most important, purely because this is where Kim actually becomes abducted. The director has cleverly worked the sound levels in this scene, from fluctuating from high pitched music, all the way down to low. The music is a violin sound, and becomes extremely high pitched to the point where its almost painful to listen too. This creates tension towards the audience, as it sounds like the music cannot go any louder, and therefore is about to drop. When music suddenly drops it indicates that something negative is about to happen. The music does drop, and the sound effect of a "thud" is placed in when Kim is dragged out from under the bed. The onomatopoeia of the "thud" makes the audience actually obtain what has actually happened, and almost snaps them back to reality that a young girl has actually been abducted. Once Kim has actually been removed from the scene, the music changes to a piano. Piano's conjure up emotions of sadness, which again shows the audience the negative and upsetting impact this has had on Kim's relatives. We see a close up of a sound machine/radio and heavy breathing coming from it. This heavy breathing creates suspense, as the audience cannot see who the breathing is coming from. Its already been indicated that whoever these people are, they are not likable people, thus it creates a sense of mystery and doubt towards the audience which will engage them even more. Having the idea of mystery and a "who done it" typed scenario is a successful way to make audiences go and watch the film. Including it in the trailer, will make audiences want to find out what has happened to the unfortunate girl, and the only way they can is to go and watch the film. I feel that this part of the trailer has been done well, and cleverly planned out to get the optimum impact possible.
The next part of the trailer, is possibly one of the most iconic and memorable parts of the whole film, and takes up the majority of the trailer. Bryan is on the end of the phone to an unknown individual. Bryan is fully aware that they have taken his daughter, and quotes this through the phone to this individual:
This sentence is effective, as it almost suggests that no footage is actually needed, as it speaks more than what it portrays. The sentence shows that Bryan is willing to do whatever it takes to get his daughter back, even if it means killing other people, or even getting himself killed. Its clear that Bryan is fully equipped and able to fight people, due to the reference of his long career. The end utterance is possibly the most important, The repetition of "you" suggests that this individual is not worthy of being named and is therefore catagorised as a person, not by their name. All of this, is filmed in a close up shot. This is possibly the most effective way to film this part, as the audience can see all of Bryan's facial expressions. It engages the audience too, as the closer the audience are to an individual, the more they can relate to that character. After this, we hear a long pause, which again creates tension and suspense, as the audience haven't seen the person on the end of the phone, or heard of them, again, creating this idea of mystery. After a 3 second pause, in a deep and manly voice we hear "good luck..." being said. This then suggests that the individual on the other end of the phone doesn't care about what Bryan has said, making this person be portrayed as a careless and dangerous individual. After this, the phone makes the sound of when it has been hung up, and then "TAKEN" is blasted onto the screen. This is a very effective way in making the audience be fully engaged with the trailer. It makes them want to go and watch the film so that they can find out who took Kim, and if she will be found.
I feel that this trailer is one of the best iv'e ever seen. I feel that it engages the audience so well, through the music and the violent and extreme footage shown.
No comments:
Post a Comment