Trailer

Explain what a trailer is
A trailer is an advertisement or promotion of a feature film that will be exhibited later on in the cinema. It is generally admitted that the most exciting(as well as gripping) highlights of the film are shown to promote the film.

What is a common narrative structure of a trailer? Linear or non-trailer?

• Standard chronological structure with beginning, middle, end(conflict, struggle, realisation).
• Often there is heavy foreshadowing to build tension
• The problem the protagonist faces is caused or aggravated by being isolated, unprepared or naive.
• The narrative is built to cause tension, anxiety, and fear in the audience
• The story plays on standard human fears: the dark, strangers, isolation, dead, violence, insanity, creepy monsters. 
• 3 Act structures:Act 1- lays out the context of the story; Act 2- establishes the problem; Act 3- often features the visual montage of key moments of the film and may have cast name screens if there are stars that sell the movie.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGdOnCiQRpQ
• Trailers use long shots at the start to establish character and setting. E.g. The Girl With All The Gifts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGkB_oWTe0
• Fades to black that suggest shifts in time e.g. The Purge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LLaybEuzA

How are shots conventionally used to establish character and setting?

Shots conventionally used to establish character and setting through long shots- this is used to help establishes where the movie setting is and it helps give the audience an idea where the story plot will be based on. Shots differ when to establish a character, sometimes they establish the character with dramatic camera angles to show how the character is feeling or jerky, middle shots where the character is having a conversation with another character so we know who they are and whether or not they are the protagonist or the antagonist. #

How are transitions conventionally used and what do they do?

Transitions conventionally used to create emotion, a change of location, a sequence of scenic shots, to help bring the shots together(makes sure there is continuity). Without transition, the story plot of the film,especially some scenes that are deemed to be not to be significant, but they are very significant would not even make any sense and some scenes will leave the audience confused(we wouldn't know what the relevance of some scenes are). Transition screens place significant text on the screen, images and shots before/after echoing the text. Short shots and quick cuts of some of the most exciting moments from the film, the 'events' that lead to resolution but no necessarily in chronological order. Transition/cuts with by booming SFX build tension.

What is the purpose of a sound effect?

The whole purpose of a sound effect is to create a certain type of mood(sound effects really helps to make a scene scarier than it actually is or more dramatic), simulating reality(perhaps making the bottle that is shown in the scene to have been broken, with acting a loud broken glass sound, when it didn't happen), creating an illusion(the sound effect may manipulate the scene by making it seem like this type of scene has happened when in fact it hasn't).

Is the resolution always left out and if so why? 

The resolution should be left out because the viewers should be left guessing so they would be more likely to want to watch the movie due to the suspense and tension the movie entails.

Discuss music and soundtracks conventionally used

Music and soundtracks should be used to build a crescendo.

What is the purpose of silence and at which points is thus effect used?

Sudden movements of quiet and silence will have the impact on mood and pace.

How are voice overs used in modern trailers?  How is the narrative formed?

Modern day trailers don't have voice over(used to be used to get story across and USP) instead the narrative is formed through sound and dialogues. Voice overs nowadays are used directly from the character(not some story teller that what is the story is about) to explain how the story came about(this cannot be obtained from anywhere in the story so it is highly effective for movie trailers where normality has been disrupted greatly).