Thomas Schatz Genre Theory (1981)

Thomas Schatz believes that there are only two genres:

Genres of order (western, gangster, sci-fi etc)

Hero - Individual, male - dominant
Setting - Contested space which is argued over (ideologically unstable)
Conflict - Externalised, against others (expressed through violence)
Resolution/ending - Elimination (death)
Thematics - The hero takes upon himself the problems, contradictions of his society and saves us from them
                  - Macho code of behaviour
                  - Isolated self-resiliance (either through his departure or death, the hero does not fit in with the values /lifestyles of the community but maintains individuality)

Genres of Integration (Musicals, comedies, domestic melodramas etc)

Hero - Couple or collective e.g. family
Setting - Civilised space (ideologically stable)
Conflict - Internalised - between themselves (expressed through emotion)
Resolution/ending - embrace (love)
Thematics - The romantic couple or family are integrated into the wider community, their personal antagonists resolved
                  - Maternal, familiar code
                  - Community co-operation

'Genres of order' is the genre that relates to 'Arcane'. Throughout our Teaser Trailer we have featured each of the above elements, although some elements e.g. Resolution cannot be shown or revealed in the Trailer, ultimately adding more suspense and mystery for the viewer.

Rick Altman Genre Theory (1999)

Genre offers audiences 'a set of pleasures'

Emotional Pleasures - The emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particulary significant when they genreate a strong audience response.

Visceral Pleasures - Visceral pleasures are 'gut' responses and are defined by how the film's stylistic construction elicits a physical effect upon its audience. This can be a feeling of revulsion, kinetic speed or a 'roller coaster ride'.

Intellectual Puzzles - Certain film genres such as the thriller offer the pleasure in trying to unravel a mystery or a puzzle. Pleasure is derived from deciphering the plot and forecasting the end or being surprised by the unexpected.

Our Teaser Trailer relates to the 'Intellectual Puzzles'. One of the conventions of a teaser trailer is the 'mystery' that it holds for the viewer. The purpose of the film is to help the viewer 'unravel a mystery or puzzle', and so throughout the whole film the viewer will understand and establish the majority of our plot.

Tom Ryall Genre Theory (1978)

Ryall proposes the theory that the types of conventions found in genres can be grouped within the following categories:

Iconographies - Symbolic symbols associated with the genre
Narrative - Structure, open/closed
Representations - Characters/Stereotypes
Ideologies - Beliefs and ideas of the 'ideal' concept, themes

If we recognise the genre of a text it enables us to feel at home and we gain enjoyment from "spotting the conventions" (repetitions) and making comparisons with other films of the same genre.

If a text deviates from the conventions, it can confuse us, but at the same time we enjoy seeing the rules broken, providing that the film-maker doesn't go too far.

Genre offers audiences a structure enabling us to feel secure in our knowledge.

Audiences like the anticipation of watching for the predictable features.

- Our Teaser Trailer does hold the convention of keeping the story-line a mystery to the viewer, nevertheless Ryall's theory does apply to our trailer. Throughout the trailer, we have applied many Action/Thriller conventions e.g. Located in a built up city, victim and a villain, chase scenes etc, which is ultimately what the audience will be expecting. However, to create an increased element of surprise, we have gone against and contradicted certain conventions to ensure that we keep the viewers entertained throughout.

Narrative Theory

Narrative theory refers to narrative structure and the way our perception is affected according to a narrative. Our film, in length, would follow some of these theories, as described below.
The first is with Levi Strauss' Binary Opposition. This suggests narrative tension based on opposition or conflict; in our film, this will be between the government and the criminals. This also represents the struggle between good and evil. The government are presented as the "good" people and the criminals as the "bad", however we are playing with the idea of a twist that would reverse these roles.

Levi Strauss

Binary Opposition; Good vs Evil

The next theory we are looking at is Barthes' Enigma Code. This suggests that the narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes on, and solving these mysteries becomes the narratives function. As the narrative goes on, we encounter several potential meanings, and the basis of the narrative itself is almost a mystery. Our film is intended to be "open", so the audience can interpret it in different ways (with the good vs evil) and keep guessing about the mysteries throughout.

Roland Barthes

The last narrative theory that we have taken some influence from is that of Vladimir Propp. It suggests that each narrative has a hero, villain, donor, helper, victim, dispatcher and false hero. Within our narrative, we certainly have a hero, villain, victim and false hero, and some of the other characters could come into play later in plot development.

Vladimir Propp

Codes and Conventions of a Teaser Trailer

After looking at Genre, one of the first things we realised we need to do is to discover the codes and conventions of the very thing we'd be creating. We started out by brainstorming our ideas on what we generally saw in a trailer. It was clear we would need to watch some to further this knowledge, so we watched the likes of Batman, as seen here, The Bourne Identity (here), Collateral (here) and more. This led us to creating the following table, which compares the codes and conventions of a teaser trailer to those of a theatrical trailer.

Teaser Trailer	Theatrical Trailer
Trying to get people interested	More information about the film
Leaves an air of mystery	Voiceover is about the film itself
Voiceovers is speech from a part of the film	More clips from the film
Shorter than Theatrical	Usually shown just before the film is released
Usually start with an establishing shot	Give a lot more information
Build up hype	Reviews and major details
The shots are usually much shorter and faster
Create interest
Long lead time
“Coming soon”, “2013” – vague
Can use symbolism
Do not need footage from the film

We will need to continue to consider these codes and conventions in the production of our own teaser trailer to make it the best it can be.

Iconic image from the Batman teaser trailer

"Coming Soon" - vague release dates are well known in teaser trailers