What is a trailer designed to do?
Generate interest in the film;
Inform the audience about the release date?
Show off the stars of the film;
Show the film to its best advantage;
Create excitement/interest;
Tell people what the film is about, e.g. the genre;
Not give too much of the plot away;
Tease the audience by setting up narrative enigmas;
Showcase some of the best bits of the film;
Give details about the production team?
Identifying the precise function and objectives of a text is always a useful starting point in an analysis. You can then start to ‘measure’ the trailer against this check list and perhaps start to ask yourself questions about the ways in which the trailer does (or does not) meet these objectives and think about why, and the way in which, the trailer perhaps deliberately challenges some of these assumptions about the suggested objectives of film trailers.
Watch the trailer several times. Then write one paragraph answering the questions listed below.
Q1. Discuss the use of codes and conventions used in the construction of this film trailer.
Q2. Consider the representations of people and places in this film trailer.
Q3. What does this film trailer tell us about the institutions involved?
Q4. Explore some of the ways in which this film trailer communicates with its target audiences.
CONTEXT
Below is the music video to Joy Division's last single 'Atmosphere' released after Ian Curtis had died. It was also directed by Anton Corbjin. Many of the band's videos and artwork used black and white imagery. Watch and look at the trailers, videos and covers below. How might they have influenced the director?
Compare the tone and institutions associated with the production and distribution of the Indiana Jones release in the same year as 'Control'. How do they fare globally and financially in terms of marketing, publicity and budgets?
http://www.momentumpictures.co.uk/flash#main
http://www.paramount.com/
http://lucasfilm.com/
http://www.ilm.com/
There have already been other films about the Manchester music scene of the late 1970s and 1980s. Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film 'Twenty-Four Hour Party People' has a very different tone. How might this and the 'Joy Division' (2007) documentary have helped 'Control' at the box office?
Artwork from various Joy Division record covers
Unknown Pleasures (1979)
Closer (1980)
Love Will Tear Us Apart (1981)
Photos taken of Joy Division in the late 1970s by Anton Corbjin
Original Film Poster
Website for the film
http://momentum.control.substance001.com/
