Compare the impact and effectiveness
of 30 Days of Night poster and trailer
Both the trailer and the poster were
designed to promote the film. Although they both use different methods as the
trailer uses clips from the film with sound whereas the poster only uses
imagery. They both use synergy and they can clearly relate to one another with
some of the same iconography. They both also refer to the website to encourage
people to visit it and learn more about the film. They also use narrative from
the film.
The poster
for the film 30 Days of Night is part of the marketing scheme for the film,
hence the reason it has the website and production company printed on it. This
poster is the official film poster. I can tell this because not only does it
show the website and industrial information, but it also shows the release date
and credits. The website acts as a hub for information about the film and it
allows people to access the trailer and other features. The first thing that
really pops out in this poster is the blood. The majority of the screen is
splattered blood that has been written on with the title and release date. The
rest of the poster is desaturated as it is set in the Arctic so it gives off
the cold, dead effect, which is underlined by there being snow in the
background. Against the white background ‘They’re coming…’ has been written in
blood, giving connotations of death along with the contrast against white.
Because the main characters are holding weapons and the blood splatter the
audience knows that this film is going to be very violent. The stormy weather
also gives implications of trouble ahead as nothing good comes from a storm.
The main
people shown on this poster are a man and a woman, because of this we get the
hint that they will have some sort of a love interest and because he is in
front of her, it shows he is protective. If you look closely at the man, you
can see he has a badge attached to his coat, showing he is a policeman implying
the possibility of him being the hero throughout this film. In the top
left-hand corner there is a review from Empire, and for people who read/know
what Empire is they will know this film must be good for them to review it, and
because it is a popular film magazine people will trust the recommendation.
In the
background, you can see a small gathering of people with only a few of them in
the light. From this you are able to get the implication that these are the bad
people because of the line ‘They’re coming’ right underneath and because of the
partial darkness surrounding them. The fact we can infer the heroes are
surrounded, the poster sets up an enigma code that is; how will they get out of
this? Because they are in the Arctic Circle and the title is ’30 Days of
Night’, we know that there are going to be 30 days in which it will be complete
darkness, and we all know that vampires thrive in the dark.
As well as
the title, the release date is also scratched in blood, as if someone has scribbled
in it. At the bottom left hand corner also in the blood is a face of someone
screaming, because of the sharp teeth we can tell this is a vampire, and
because it is staring – or screaming – at the main characters, we know they are
in danger and are most likely to have to face it. Because it previews on
Halloween more people are going to see it as Halloween is a time to be scared
and with this being a horror movie, scared is what we want to feel.
Looking
closely at the woman, I can see that she has a small amount of colour around
her lips, drawing attention to the aspect of romance and sex. Also, the man is
unshaven and because he is the hero figure in this film it shows hints of
manliness and that he doesn’t play things by the rules. This conveys that he is
represented as more heroic than she is due to the way he is standing in front
of her and is holding a large axe which shows his protection over her. Since
she is young and attractive, the hint of red in her lips plays up her sexuality
and although she is also armed, she is still hiding behind him. This allows her
to be represented as a stereotypical attractive, young female victim.
The trailer
for 30 Days of Night also has a marketing aspect to it: to get the attention of
the audience and to grip them before they have even seen the film. If the
trailer is exciting then that is going to grab the audience, make them want to
see more action, see the film and stop the suspense the trailer leaves behind. This
trailer is non-linear and in non-chronological order although it ends with
equilibrium it doesn’t return to it, because if it showed how it ended, no-one
would watch the film.
The opening
shot is of a woman standing in a kitchen with a dark mise-en-scene and outside
you are able to see it is very dark and snowy. In the right-hand side of the
frame you can clearly see outside the window, leaving you expecting to see
something there. To draw the suspension but also give a sense of calm, there’s
a quick medium shot of a man looking very intense in a living room. There is
then another cut back to the kitchen in which something comes through the
window attacking the woman, followed by another cut back to a medium shot of
the man’s reaction and this is all quickly edited causing suspense and
excitement. Again, there’s another quick edit to the woman being dragged away
through the window, outside and then under another house. To create a sense of
heartbreak there is a close up of the man and woman clutching each other’s
hands, desperately trying to stay together. Another shot of the woman being
dragged away, is from her point of view to make it seem as though this is you
being dragged away from a loved one and this causes the audience to feel
sympathy for the couple. After this there is a fade to black which I feel
represents time passing. At
the beginning of the trailer there is thunder, which as we know implies
something bad as nothing good can come from a story in typical horror films.
After the thunder there is no other sound other than a few seconds after when
there is the harsh sound of the glass window smashing which creates a huge
impact and is the first scare of the trailer.
Following the
fade is then a studio title card which is desaturated and as if all the warm
colours are missing, linking in with the fact that they are in the arctic and
it is constant night so there will be no light. It also links to the fact that
vampires are extremely pale and that when they drain your blood you lose all
the colour in your skin. The text cards are used more than once throughout the
trailer to fill in gaps and explain parts of the story but not to reveal too
much. The fading to black that happens a lot through the trailer is very
atmospheric and can help cause tension and suspense.
The next
edit is to a long, high angle shot of two people dressed in long, dark clothes –
most likely to be the bad guys – looking down on a lightless town in which the
film takes place. Because they are above the town it shows they have power over
the innocent people there. There is then a quick fade to black and fade up to a
shot showing a vampire leaning over a body; the angle then tilts which is
unnerving to the viewer. It is beneath
the framework of a boat, which reminds the viewer of the rotting body. The next
shot an establishing shot of the village above the Arctic Circle which has all
the lights on, there are people in cars and wandering the streets. There is
light, which implies safety, but because the clouds are low and heavy this
gives a menacing aspect to the shot. There is then another title card
explaining the background of the film, just to give the audience an idea of
what the base of the story is.
This is followed
by an extreme long shot of a man standing on his own, isolated, showing all the
open space around him; this leaves the audience expecting something or someone
to appear. We then get a close up of the man with a blurred figure standing
behind him, which immediately causes suspense and there is then a montage of
shots quickly edited together and the fast pace causes excitement and threat. When
this is happening, there is only the diegetic sound of the wind and the natural
sounds from their surroundings. After this is a quick close up of someone’s
face with their mouth wide open and covered in blood, which implies an attack
has just taken place linking to the shots before hand. As there is the build up
to the face of the vampire, there is a crescendo of noise.
In the next
shot we see a policeman – the hero – driving through the arctic to then be
interrupted by a message saying he is needed somewhere. There is a cut to a
medium shot of a man in jail to then a reverse shot of the policeman in a
medium close up. Because we see bars in front of both characters, we are left
with the question of ‘Is the man in jail trapped or is it the policeman?’ This
is a visible rhetorical question, and to find out the answer you need to watch
the film.
In the next
series of shots, the man in jail says ‘Board the windows; try to hide. They’re
coming’, over three shots of him intercut with a young woman and each shot gets
closer to the man in the cell lying on the bed in quite a bad state, deranged.
His teeth are also in a bad state; they are discoloured and also pointy, and
this gives implications that he could possibly be a vampire himself, especially
given the fact he seems to know about them before anyone else. After that has
been said the hero asks ‘Who are they?’, and there is then a cut to one of the
other men in the station and behind him through the window you are able to see
someone there. Because of the way the blinds shut, they also give implications
of being trapped.
Now there is
a montage of shots showing the lights being turned off in the town, followed by
a fade to black and fade up into a title card written in red, implying blood
and violence. When this happens, there is non-diegetic sound of a low
percussive sound to emphasise the happenings and create impact. It shows the unique
selling point of the film, which is that it is based on the graphic novel. The
next edits are a sequence of shots separated by quick fades to black and fade
up on the victims. Whilst this is happening there is a non-diegetic sound of a
steady beating, similar to a heartbeat which then speeds up as the shots
increase in pace, to finally be over ruled by the sound of a woman screaming
for help. After this there is an important title card featuring the directors
name (Sam Raimi), this will appeal to fans of horror and action series, because
he has directed examples of both (Spider-man and The Evil Dead). A close up of
the young woman saying, ‘Vampires don’t exist’, is ironic as we know they do
because that is what the film is based on and her disbelief in them creates a
sense that something is going to happen to her throughout this film. Before this there is another close up of a
vampire covered in blood opening his mouth as if he is in mid attack, which
links to the irony of the woman’s statement straight after. There is a brief
flickering and a close up shot of a blood dripping face, followed by another
close up of exceptionally long finger nails scratching record, because they
look like claws it indicates the film will be violent. After this there is yet
another title card with a steading, driving beat to it, followed by a quick
fade to black and fade up of a man saying ‘That ain’t the weather, that’s death
approaching’. There is a fade up for blood running down a road, followed by a
montage of shots of people being attacked, dragged and killed by vampires as
well as people looking afraid. Because these shots are overlaid with a building
crescendo, this causes excitement along with a title card saying, ‘How can they
be stopped?’ This leaves it to the audience to have to see the film to be able
to find out the answer to the question. More scenes of destruction follow and
then a close up shot of our hero claiming, ‘We can last a month’. Again, this
leaves another reason for the audience to watch the film as they are left with
the question, will they last a month – the thirty days of night?
There is
then a sequence of shots of the town being destroyed, shots of the vampires and
citizens looking afraid. This hints at the content without letting any of the
story or big secrets be visible to the viewers. The music then crescendos and
the shots become shorter - this creates excitement, thrill and tension. We are
left with the final scare being where a vampire is about to bite into a woman’s
neck, and she screams in fear. The last scene of the trailer is a title card
with the text in red implying blood and violent death, and it seems as though
someone has smeared the blood across the screen. There is also the billing
block and the website with encourages access to find more out about the film
and release date.
