Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp, and stars Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco.
- I analysed the trailer for this film; here is the link to it:
http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/imdb/vi579469593/• Opens with distributor, lingering with its stated soundtrack. Then fades to black, and again, opening the shots for the trailer
TRAILER
• ‘The choice to live an ordinary life is no longer an option’ adds to suspense and ponders on a sci-fi level
• Silence is then heard as the spiderman draws back towards the camera. Up close of his reaction – although hidden by mask, he is staring straight ahead – and a quick pan of the camera reveals a woman (romance connotations?) being knocked off a pipe, as the music begins with a loud clash of a cymbal.
• The typical ‘villain’ character follows, with a hidden costume again although the markings on the face connote evil e.g. sharp eyes, arched eye brow, sinister grin. We then understand spiderman saves people – essentially the girl – by defeating the baddy to save the day. Typical intertextuality
• Large explosion follows, highlighting destruction throughout the film. Good use of editing through up close of eye witnessing building. We then see girl fall and scream – adds to tension
• Technology show through special effects of explosion/flying/falling – adds to typical action genre connotations
• Fast paced tracking from aerial shot of traffic – yellow taxis connote setting, hinting at being in New York
• Animated titles, with building-like blocks corresponding – metallic. Shows a contrast between background and font, as font appears from centre and looks luminous, advertising the film with ‘this season’. Electric guitar plays just afterwards for approximately two seconds, then silence for a brief moment, adding to the suspense. Highlights editing in time to the clips, in order to add suspense
• Three fast paced shots highlight areas of the film, from spiderman looking then flying then an explosion. This adds to further action genre references. It also hints at the plot, with hints that he may cause explosions or work/fly in reference to these explosions
- Romance connotation of rescuing girl –ads further elements and mixture of genres to the plot. We hear the girl’s speech, from both verbally and visually and the diegetic sound continues over further shots within the film, following the girl. More references to the plot follow, as she walks out of a cafe dressed in uniform – adding to the background of some of the characters featured within this trailer
• Use of slashing sounds as the main music quietens and goes out of being the main focus. The slashes work with titles and shots, such as ‘turn’ and ‘your’. In between the slashes are action shots, which correlate well together. The shots working alongside the titles fasten in pace in relation to the slash sounds and guitar riff, adding to a fast-paced, exhilarating feel which tightens continuously.
• Following these titles are highly fast-paced shots, which feature people in pain, further explosions and spiderman constantly flying around from his spider web throughout the city of New York (as shown from more taxis and high buildings) therefore, the audience presumes a lot of action and melodramas will follow in the film
• The images fall alongside the tom drum beat, adding to further tension
• These continuous shots are interrupted with an approximately 3 second shot, featuring spiderman on a pole, from a great height. It lingers for a moment, and then the fast paced shots continue. Spider man has been portrayed in this way in order to show his significance within the city, as it is clear he is on a high building, towering above the busy city, expressed through this establishing shot. Further quick shots continue, to a shot reverse shot showing him from the poll again, to him lurching into the screen and disappearing to black – adding to his power over the audience as his superior character even takes control as almost a hero to us
• This then cuts quickly to a black background, with the title ‘SPIDER-MAN’ concluding the answers to whom this individual is. The font is of the same as the previous titles
• Four shots are then inserted with diegetic sounds to the girl looking troubled, although spiderman falls down beside her, they kiss, and he shoots back up to the sky. A reaction shot concludes the trailer, as she appears wet – hinting at harm in some way – although still looking happy as her smile expresses her mood. She looks up at spider man in amazement, hinting to the audience he is going to do phenomenal things throughout the film
• The penultimate shot is likewise to the title shot, although it reveals ‘COMING SOON’, answering the viewers questions of when they can see this film
• This shot fades to black then reveals various information to the viewers, used as last as it is probably the most unimportant area to the audience, to who will only value the images and plot of the film within the trailer, and therefore not the production behind it. Information revealed includes its website, its sound track and the film’s distributor
MAGAZINE
- Following this, I went on and focused on synergy, focusing upon a magazine front cover of 'Empire' advertising the film. Here is the cover alongside my notes:
• Expressed as a new film ‘THE NEW LOOK’, which alerts attention to the reader.
• Intertextuality found between the previous ^^ and the title of the film, ‘SPIDER MAN’ – full caps and same font, although the title is highlighted more broadly through silver coloured writing
- Advertisement through the words ‘SPIDERMAN SPEAKS’ which hints at an interview. Therefore, there will be inside information from the main star, which will explain areas of the film, why it should be watched, etc... this will interest a viewer
• The background is dark at both the bottom and top, whilst gradually fading to grey, silver and almost white in the centre. Although dark and not exactly appealing, it compliments both the image and the font colour, as well as hinting at the feeling of this new movie. It also contrasts with the boldly red ‘EMPIRE’ title of the magazine
• The image features the main star of the movie, Toby Maguire, who may be a well-known face
• He has a typical male face, with nothing in particular drawing you to him, with the costume drawing the attention. It is a black and silver webbed bodysuit, known through intertextuality as the spiderman suit, although that is originally red. This adds further questions to the film, with the title ‘The stars of 2007’s darkest sequel is unmasked’. This compliments the image, revealing he is not in his typical red costume due to a change with the term ‘sequel’ revealing this, as well as his face being uncovered – not noticeable in the previous ‘Spiderman’ films. Therefore, a change has occurred here, which will appeal to the viewers.
• His posture is also note able. He appears quite serious and determined, which may hint at a serious themed film. On top of this, in relation to rule of thirds, his face owns a great deal of the photograph, with his body hidden (with a small spider revealing his identity on his chest), whilst his hand takes up approximately half of the photo. It is positioned in a trademark way, as in the previous films he positions his hand like this before he allows the spider web to unleash. Therefore, it is as though he’s aiming it at the audience, which could make one feel uncomfortable but also curious. It is threatening, adding to a possible feel of the film.
• As well as this, in relation to promoting the image, this posture could also hint that he may burst out of the magazine – a.k.a. onto cinema screens. It is promoting the ‘sequel’.
• The magazine features various more typical magazine-cover connotations. For example, the bold title of the magazine has been featured, with a bold red ‘EMPIRE’ logo. This contrasts with the bleak background, highlighting its iconic name and attracting the movie audience
• The magazine also features a list of films, reviews and ‘specials’ featured within the magazine, with further advertising. The use of a red ‘plus’ sign above this is in bold red, highlighting inter-textuality between the title and the advertisement of the interview inside. The added accounts featured within the magazine are displayed in white and silver, correlating with the ‘SPIDER-MAN’ title. This shows that the colours compliment one another through the magazine front cover
• The bottom left hand corner features further advertisements, luring in the audience further. These advertisements include Free posters, which would intrigue the viewer and lure them more towards purchasing the magazine. The font for this advertisement is also in white and red, with the white ‘FREE!’ sign is in white, making it more bold against the two colourful pages featured behind it. The two images of the posters featured in side have been placed on the front cover, therefore visually introducing what is available inside, therefore luring the viewer in further to buy the mag. - In relation to synergy, the actor is the same character as the spiderman featured on the trailer; the costume is the same, although the colour varies, but the web-like body suit and spider logo on the chest correlates; high posture, as said, it a typical spiderman pose, whilst the silver writing for 'SPIDER-MAN' is likewise to the silver flash of writing featured in the advert, advertising the film.
POSTER
From this, I then went on to analyse the poster for the film, adding further to the advertisment campaign. The poster is below, following my analyse:
• The main focus of the poster is the image that has been included. This is of the character ‘spiderman’, with his typical webbed body suit, known as his trademark costume. The web-like metal features on his dress portray a spider-like web, therefore complimenting his name well. The suit is clearly visible within both the trailer and the magazine cover (although the magazine features a black suit).
• Like wise to the magazine, he is posing in an iconic way. The poster features him aiming his ‘spider web’ towards the audience, as shown through his hand expression. Likewise to the magazine, here he also appears to be lurching towards the audience, although in a different posture – crawling (likewise to a spider). However, the graphics shown here reveal him crawling up a building, therefore defying gravity, due to his spider web making him stick. Therefore, the use of the bold image and the character alongside the CGI effects makes this an appealing poster. It is bold and eye catching mainly due to the highlighted image
• From this, the titles are at the bottom/centre of the poster, below the image. The title of the film spreads across the poster, taking up all thirds. It is silver and of the same font of previously shown advertisements, adding to synergy and intertextuaility
• Below this features behind-the-scenes information, such as actors involved, producers, the director, etc… For a mainstream audience, very few individuals would take great interest in how the film was actually moulded: they would only care for the visuals and the plot of the film. Therefore, these have been placed in small font size, in order to draw little attention. They have been placed in black font so they contrast with the yellow and orange shades reflected onto the building from behind.
• Underneath this information is of the release date, which is most important to those who the film appeals to and hope to go on to view it. This font and colour matches the title, making them both stand out the furthest and therefore being the main information function for those who wish to view it.
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