Deconstruction of 'Project X' and 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' Trailers

Deconstruction of Trailers

I chose these two films to deconstruct based on their narrative and trailer. Project X is based heavily around social media which is an idea we have for our teaser trailer. Perks of Being a Wallflower is based around one character and their relationships with a few certain people which is also an idea we had.

Project X

Project X is a comedy about a nerdy teenage boy throwing a party to break out of his social stereotypes. The party starts small but goes widely out of control. The film is based on a true story. 

The trailer is 1 minute and 35 seconds. The film rating screen takes 5 seconds before the trailer starts. The three production companies appear in the middle of the screen straight after one another. The are transitioned by blurring into one another. They flash up quickly, the three together taking up only 2 seconds (from 0.05 to 0.07). 

'From Producer Todd Phillips' appears during one unedited clip of the main character. The titles blur and refocus two times during the 3 seconds it appears (from 0.13 to 0.16). The blurring and refocusing of the titles imitate someone's eyes blinking - picking up from the drunk eyes of the character in the previous scene. 

Todd Phillips is a well known producer, working on films such as the Hangover trilogy and Due Date. This shows that the film is using the producer as a selling point.

The director, much like the producer, is a selling point of the film. The films that he has worked on are also stated ' 'Old School and The Hangover'. The same typography is used throughout, as well as the same blurring and refocusing effect - again, happening twice. The director is on for the same amount of screen time as the produced, 3 seconds (from 0.21 to 0.24).

The tag line appears one line at a time with the beat of the song played non-diegetically in the background. The first hint of the plot is shown with the 'celebration of'. Again, the blurring and refocusing effect is used, all of the words blurring as each line is added. It is onscreen for 3 seconds (from 0.26 to 0.29) 

After the titles, there is a voiceover of one of the main characters. He says "Tonight's about the girls we never had a shot at, tonight's about changing the game" - a large hint at the plot of the film, and an insight into what the characters were thinking. 

There is a large part of the trailer without any titles, this gives more of an insight into the film showing some of the scenes and developing the characters. The title of the film appears at 1.09 until 1.11, 2 seconds, which is a shorter length of time than the previous titles. The titles appear to be 'stamped' onto the scratched, black background. There is a  blue/green/yellow filter to represent lights seen at parties.

After another few clips of the film, the above titles appear with the same blurring and refocusing effect. 'You're Invited' again refers to the plot of the film being a party. It refers directly to the audience which makes the audience more likely to want to see the film. This title appears at 1.25 to 1.28. The release date is an important title to feature in the trailer as it attracts audiences to see it when it is first released.

 

Straight after the release date, the film's Facebook page appears which the same effect (blurring and refocusing), this specifies the target audience as a younger audience, but due to the 18 age rating the target audience is 18 - 25 year olds. The Facebook page blurs and the film's hashtag appears. This again targets the correct audience and creates an internet hype about the film - relating to the plot of the film. The two titles above run from 1.28 to 1.31.

The same typography, effect and transition is used for the list of production companies. The production companies are used in a list so the audience can relate films from the production companies, specifying the audience again.

The last two screens before the trailer fades to black are a list of other members of the film's team. These are used for recognition of their input and for the audience to relate their names (due to input in other films) to Project X. Again, the same typography and effects are used. The website is written at the bottom of the screen for the audience to use as an information point if they are interested. These two screens are only on for 2 seconds overall.

  

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a romantic drama about an introverted teenage boy who struggles with anxiety and depression. He meets two seniors that teach him about the coming of age.  

The trailer is 2 minutes 25 seconds long. It starts with a 4 second age rating title which then starts the trailer. It starts with a voiceover of the main character Charlie. He says "Dear friend, I haven't really talked to anyone outside of my family all summer, but tomorrow is my first day and I really want to turn things around this year" while various clips of him doing day to day activities can be seen. The voiceover gives a slight insight into the plot of the film as the character can be identified as shy (due to only seeing his family all summer) and a student "tomorrow is my first day".

As soon as the voice over finishes, the production company logo appears on screen. The background is a plain lime green and the logo is black. The production company appears at 0.18 and is on for 1 second. The production company is shown so the audience can see it is a large company, so the funding is likely to be large (increasing the quality), and the audience can relate the film to others under the same production company.

 

 

The next title is the name of the main character and a tag line. The words appear separately as the same speed as the beat of the non-diegetic music in the background. "Charlie never stood out" gives the audience a brief insight into the character. A black font imitating the text from a typewriter is used on the same lime green background. The titles appear at 0.33 and are on until 0.35.

 

Again, the plot of the film is hinted by the next titles, which appear at 0.45 until 0.48. The same transitioning effect is used - each word appearing to the beat of the music in the background. As well as the use of the same typography and background.

 

The next titles are the names of the friends that are introduced. After the titles, a sequence of clips is used to show the character and their personality. Their name appears in the centre of the screen in the same black typography on the lime green background. The first name, Patrick, appears at 0.54 for 2 seconds. The second name, Sam, appears at 1.00 for 2 seconds again.  

 

"This Fall" is the next title screen. This states the time of year the film will come out for the audience to see, creating a hype around the film with the audience watching the trailer. The letters of 'This Fall' appear separately, much like that of a typewriter, which is the following clip. The typography is also similar with the same lime green background used throughout. The titles begin the transition at 1.16 and finish at 1.18 before immediately changing to the next clip.

 

The next title screen is a common one seen in trailers. By stating another film the same producers have made, the target audience is made obvious. People who enjoy Juno are likely to enjoy this one, due to the similarity in teen issues - Juno covers teen pregnancy and abortion, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower covers depression , anxiety and suicide. It appears at 1.29 until 1.31, using the same transitioning and typography. 

The following title screen is a similar strategy, by saying that the film is based on the novel, people who have read the novel or who are interested in the novel are more likely to see the film.

It also states that the novel is 'critically acclaimed' which makes the target audience more likely to watch the film, based on critics enjoying the book. The second title screen appears at 1.38 until 1.40.

There is another voiceover of the main character. The voiceover is a quote from the book and summaries the beliefs of the characters in the film - "I know there are people who say all these things don't happen, and I know these will all be stories someday. But right now, we are alive and in this moment, I swear, we are infinite".

This leads to the title screen showing the title of the film. It appears at 2.16 until 2.19. The same transition is used, each word appearing separately with the same typography and lime green background. After all of the words have appeared, the title grows slightly.

 

This leads directly to the next title screen. The 'Coming Soon' is transitioned in the same way as the other title screens apart from each letter appears separately in the 'coming' but the 'soon' appears all together. This extends the time that the title screen is on, crating hype around the film as there is not a confirmed date yet. It appears from 2.20 to 2.23, in the last second the Facebook page, website, hashtag and production company appear at the bottom of the screen.