3 DAYS TO KILL KATIE COSTELLO

Trailer analysis

At the beginning of the trailer a conforming establishing shot pans the scenic view of an urban city, Paris. It occurs at dusk suggesting many scenes in the film will fall at night building the trailers sense of enigma. The camera movement somewhat circles the cities skyscrapers suggesting themes of wealth and business. The shadows in the shot cascade over the city below where as the skyscrapers are enlightened by sunbeams, this may infer the hierarchy of power within the film suggesting the lower class, yet innocent people, are those who get hurt.

VOICE OVER

The non-diegetic voiceover overlays the montage of clips from the perspective of a character of whom we trust. The voice creates an enigmatic atmosphere due to the content of the dialogue and the husky undertones of the character. Majority of the diegetic dialogue in the clip changes to non-diegetic as it turns into a sound bridge cutting to clips of the content of the dialogue.

This trailer challenges the typical trailer and conventions of a normal neo noir film through the inclusion of diegetic comedic dialogue in the scene involving the ‘Italian chef.’ The inclusion of this scene promotes the film to have light hearted elements and as a result more versatile to a variety of audiences broadening the typically niche genre. The camera shots in this scene begin close up, this exaggerates the fearful facial expressions and showcases the nervous sweat on the victim’s face. This is then juxtaposed when the non-diegetic backing track is cut off by the sound motif of the trigger of the gun. The silence emphasises the importance of the dialogue and the camera switches to a wide shot to fully capture the comedic element by the location of the scene.

Challenging the conventions

At the beginning of the trailer a three way split screen occurs implying multiple scenes of action are occurring at once. This montage of synchronised footage suggests there are many branches contributing to the narrative suggesting the film has a complex and intellectual plot line for audiences to immerse themselves in. This fulfils the uses and gratification of escapism once again.

In one sequence involving a suggested strip club chiaroscuro lighting occurs. This highlights the protagonists uncomfort in the scene. Because of this it is suggested characters will be ‘pushed to their limits’ and audiences will witness scenes of tension and uncomfort themselves. The shades of blue depict the emotion of sadness and isolation typical emotions characters face when within a neo noir film. A generic convention of a neo noir film is for its trailer it feature an analypisis. This is prominent in the three days to kill trailer with flashbacks and flash-forwards featured throughout. These shots are indicated through various jump cuts to

different lines of action and multiple fade to blacks implying the passing of time and a shift in location.

FEMALE FATALEThe female fatale is a convention of neo noir films. Her costume of a dark trench coat infers connotations of power also reinforced by her icy hair and bold red lip creating a dominating ora.

TENSION

DYNAMIC

Further conventions conforming to the neo noir genre are the multiple camera angles utilised throughout the trailer. Multiple obscured scenes and inverted frames contribute to the making of the genre accompanied by Dutch angles.

They are featured in a montage of shots where a fade transition is used to highlight the confusion of the character. These angles provide an insight to the

delusional state he is exhibited to be in and creates an erratic feel to the trailer.

ABSTRACT ERRATIC

UNSTABLE MENTAL PICTURE

OVER THE SHOULDER

The over the shoulder shot positioned behind the main protagonist when looking at his daughter evokes emotion amongst audiences. The shot suggests we will feel compassion for his character and form a relationship through understanding his viewpoint and being supportive of it.

FONTS

The non diegetic soundtrack of the trailer runs parallel to the editing screened. For example, as the text enters the screen it is amplified by an increase in beat and sound of the backingtrack. The entrance of the text fly in from either side of the screen followed by a colour trail of reds, oranges and yellows. The colours connote a sense of urgency and danger heightening the tension amongst audiences. This use of colours makes the text seem alarming and of importance so are acknowledged greatly by the audiences in return.

Iconography throughout the film consists of high class weaponry such as the foot detonated bomb, guns and violence. Further iconography of neo noir is the dark yet professional clothing worn by the actors and elements of drug use (even though medical.) These components together succeed in creating a trailer fitting to the genre.