The list of conventions found in a teenage comedy

Here are the following list of conventions that are usually shown;


Tagline- Sexual innuendo, sex pun
Eye candy- often women exposing their cleavage or teenage humour (EG pranks)
Both genders featuring- this suggests the genre as a boy-girl problem
Bright colour schemes
Recognisable actors associated with the genre

This research indicates that for the same kind of genres are constantly used for the posters of the genre. As a result I will make sure that for my film posters there will be fundamental poster conventions for this genre.

Before I continue my work for my poster, I am going to begin my research on trailers and magazine covers.

Teenage Comedy Genre film analysis

 I have decided on my genre which is Teenage comedy. I have looked at five film posters of that genre to see the conventions that are normally shown, to help me establish my poster to have those conventions to make it stand out as a standard teenage comedy poster.

The films that I am looking at are

The Inbetweeners Movie
Going the Distance
American Pie
Sex Drive
Euro Drive

List of conventions found in Teaser Trailers

The list of conventions found in a teaser trailers are as follows;


Production Company Logos and they are usually found in the beginning

Images from the film 

Title of the film 

Release dates; for teaser trailers it usually states 'coming soon' or 'this summer' instead of showing a specific date

Indication of genre 

Website which usually is at the end

Voiceover man 

Editing; often includes flashes, quick fades and dissolves alongside more conventional cuts

Cast, crew and director credits 

Sometimes references to other films to show it is the same director/producer of the film

Music 

Tagline 

Sound effects 

Eye candy 

Reference to the source material the film is based on 

A variety of camera shots/movement 


When it comes to the time that I make my teaser trailer I am going to use as many of these conventions as possible mentioned above to make my teaser trailer

Teaser Trailer convention analysis

For this task I am going to now analyse the conventions found in each of the five teaser trailers.

• 
  
• Fast editing 
• Voice over used for this
• Has the use of tag lines 
• 1 track used 
• film title appears at the end 

• film studio company shown but very quickly at the beginning
• Shows date of release 
• Voice over used for this rather than a dialogue 
• It has the use of tag lines 
• 1 track is used 

• A voice over is used 
• Reference to the director of the film 
• No tag lines used for this
• Eye candy- explosions 
• Fast editing with fewer scenes 
• Film title appears at the end 
• Does not give a specific date 

• No scenes from the film are used 
• The tagline is used for the narrative as there is no voice over 
• Shows an image of a character of the film 
• website appears at the end with film title 

Teaser Trailers and Theatrical Trailers examples and comparisons

For this task I am getting three films with teaser trailers and conventional theatrical trailers. I am going to compare the differences between teaser trailers and conventional theatrical trailers. This task is to help me understand the differences so that when I produce my own teaser trailer, it is authentic as possible. Looking at different teasers and theatrical trailers help to understand how consistent the conventions are.

The Similarities between teaser trailers and theatrical trailers;

• They both show production company logos
• The tag lines both feature
• The music indicates genre
• A mixture of editing transitions include fades, dissolves and cuts
• An eye candy features in both trailers

The differences between teaser trailers and theatrical trailers;

• Teasers often have voice over rather than a dialogue from the film
• There are fewer images from the film in a teaser trailer
• There is less characterisation in a teaser as there is less development so fewer characters are introduced.
• In teasers there is only one  music track used. In theatrical trailers there are often a number of tracks used when the scenes change.
• In teasers cast is referred usually at the end
• Editing in a teaser is often much quicker and it generally consist of dissolves and fades rather than cuts
• Production company logos often appear later in a theatrical trailer
• Often a greater number of taglines spaced out across the trailer in a theatrical trailer
• More narrative information is included in a theatrical trailer whereas the same information would be with held in a teaser
• Reference to many more scenes in a theatrical trailer
• There are fewer scenes in teaser trailers
• Theatrical trailers contain more dialogue from the film
• Teaser trailers contain frequent impact and sounds that often in sink with paste or editing
• Sometimes release dates in teasers is vague EG coming soon, this summer etc. whereas a theatrical trailer often gives a specific date

List of poster conventions that are common to find.

Throughout the analysis of different film posters from different genres, it is noticeable that there are certain conventions that are almost guaranteed to show up on any film poster of any genre. The following are:

Film title is the largest font in the page. This is to state the obvious that the film title is the most essential in the poster- production companies try to ensure that the audience remember the film's name. Often the title is in a colour that stands out against the background.


Credits and Billing

Sound & Production company logos. In more recent films this is to outline a sort of copyright and reference of the producers of the film.


Dominant Central Image- often indicating the genre of the film.

Reviews and ratings.

Images of stars in character

Names of stars

Websites and social media links

Release dates

Reference to merchandise

Tagline

Colour scheme often reflecting genre

Reference to source material

Director's name