PLANNING: TRAILER INSPIRATION FOR OUR TRAILERS
In class we watched and revived many trailers in today’s lesson to build on our storyline and take inspiration from these trailers. The trailers we watched included: The Mass of Men (a trailer made by students studying National Film and Television School) and A Quiet Place.
The Mass of Men
What makes its a powerful short film?
Having a USP (unique selling point) makes a powerful short film. As it sets apart the other films that are of similar genre or purpose.
Which scenes would you pick if you were making the material into a trailer?
The Mass of Men (dir. Gabriel Gauchet, 2012) inspired us because it deals with an individual who is a victim of social injustice; however hard he tries, society seems to thwart him and he has reached a point of ultimate despair in his life. When he is three minutes late at the employment office, the female official behind the desk talks down him and cuts down his entitlement. She refuses to refund his expenses. He has to swallow his rage and sense of unfairness; he is another ‘little man’ punished by the social machine.
The protagonist then witnesses another applicant who has been pushed so far that he snaps and resorts to revengeful violence; the office video cam catches his furious return to the employment office armed with a nail gun which he uses indiscriminately to wreak violence.
Both characters are symbolic ‘everymen’ who are victims of society. The tagline for the short film is from Henry David Thoreau: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”. Several aspects make this short so powerful: the soundtrack is a requiem, suggesting lament , regret and remorse; the protagonist is a good man, but humiliated and victimised through no fault of his own; and in the end, he is ‘turned bad’ by the system as he creeps back into the office after the horror in order to retrieve the paperwork that would betray him.
A Quiet Place
What makes its a powerful short film?
The use of the lighting was very impactful at the end of the trailer - where the light flickered on and off, whilst the female character was screaming in the bath tub. And the end shot switched to a black screen, as a cliff hanger to encourage the audience to watch the full film.
Which scenes would you pick if you were making the material into a trailer?
The material I would pick as inspiration for my own trailer would include: the main character’s/protagonist personality and traits. Here in The Mass of Men, he is seen as a “little man” and is punished by the corporate social managers that are above him, thus making him feel small. I would like to embody this energy and personality in the main character where he feels small and worthless even after working so hard in his career.
