London to Brighton Trailer Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU3G7EEFnwQ

Length - 1:41 minutes

Number of shots - approx 58

The production company is the first thing that the audience sees, however do to the fact it is not a very well known production company it is only shown for a very short amount of time. 

The trailer opens with a long shot of the streets of London at night. This straight away is conventional of the thriller genre as the darkness suggests vulnerability and automatically creates a sense of danger that will make the audience feel uneasy. The audience is able to instantly recognise that a majority of this film takes place in piccadilly circus and will instantly begin to make connotations of this, such as its busy nature and potentially Londons reputation for crime. 

A mid shot and long shot are then used of a young girl begging on the streets. In the trailer this girl is the main protagonist, which is a counter typical aspect. However, throughout the trailer she is presented as weak and vulnerable through the use of her age and other micro-elements such as camera shots, low key lighting and narrative. In these shots she is wearing modern clothing to show the audience that the themes throughout the film (prostitution) are still an issue in todays society. The red jumper connotes that she is in danger currently through the fact she is on the streets and foreshadows the idea that she will be in danger in the future, which is further emphasised throughout the trailer.

The next shot is a close up of the young girl talking and smoking with an older woman. At this point there is diegetic sound of the young girl saying she is "12 this year". This creates unease for the audience as it is very uncommon for a young girl to be smoking at 11 years old, suggesting to the audience that she has had a poor upbringing/rough childhood growing up. It is also very uncommon for a 11 year old to be alone in London at night which again creates a sense of jeopardy. 

Throughout the trailer there are various inter titles used to inform the audience of reviews of the film from various well known sources. The first two inter titles used have a very unfocused background of a street at night with cars passing through. This adds a sense of chronology to the trailer as it suggests that this is the streets of London, whereas inter titles used later on in the trailer have a solid black background potentially suggesting a shift in location, which is were a majority of the action takes place, hence a serious tone is connoted in comparison to the soft, out of focused background. The fact that the Big Issue have given a review of the film adds a sense of relatability due to the fact the film is about exploitation on the streets, which is something they are trying to avoid by employing homeless people to sell their magazine to earn a living. 

 

The next shots are of the young girl talking to the man, which is demonstrated with the use of shot reverse shot, consisting of close ups of each character. Here there is diegetic dialogue of the man asking the girl is she wants to "earn 100 quid" and telling her all she has to do is "go and see someone" for him. This begins to unveil the narrative and main theme of the film to the audience and the audience begins to question what kind of task is it and whether this task will put the girl in danger which is answered in the next clip.

 

Cross cutting is used with the next few shots as a way of showing that the girl is in a very vulnerable position. The first shot is a close up of the girl travelling in the car. Here, she is shown to be wearing makeup, consisting of red lipstick which can be seen as a way of sexualising her or a way of connoting that she is in extreme danger, further emphasised by the red jumper. This cuts to the next shot with a fade to black which symbolises this change in time/location. The next shot is of two men travelling in a car, one of whom has been shown before talking to the girl. A voiceover is used at the same time of two men talking, with the dialogue being as follows; 

"How often did you get my dad a girl?"

 "A couple of times. 3,4"

"How young?"

"She was about... 12"

This is the first time the theme of the film is highlighted to the audience, which allows them to have empathy for the young girl and emphasises how dangerous her position is. A mid shot then follows of the young girl and older woman walking behind a older man. This suggests that this is the man the girl needed to go and see in order to earn the money. The fact that the location is in a hotel room connotes that this could be prostitution taking place. The young girl is looking around the room puzzled/confused which connotes that she is unaware of what is going to happen which therefore emphasises her age. 

The cross cutting continues between the young girl and the men in the van. Close ups are used of both characters in order to effectively demonstrate the contrast between the girls worried emotions and the mans serious expression. The diegetic dialogue used here allows the audience to have an initial understanding of why the film is called 'London to Brighton' as the man says "where are they now?". The connotations of this question are that the film is about the girl running from the men (antagonists) and end up in Brighton from London. This close up of the man then fades to black, which acts as a significant point in the trailer, as both the editing and music begin to pick up pace.

As soon as the older woman enters the bathroom the non-diegetic music changes from a slow tempo piano piece to a more techno up beat piece. The significance of the slow pace of the piano would be that it unconsciously tugs at the audiences heart strings and emphasises the empathy they feel towards the young girl and her situation. This is contrasting to the up beat music as it signifies the action and drama that is to come. This type of music coupled with the fast paced editing begins to make the audiences heart raced a little faster as this combination acts as a countdown for the female characters and highlights the idea that they are on the run with little time to think or make mistakes. During this very chaotic scene, special effects are used when the woman is scrubbing the makeup off of the girls face. The camera has a delayed response to the motion of the characters, which therefore creates this disorientated effect. The irregularity of this then creates suspense. In 9 seconds approximately 12/13 shots are used which adds to the adrenaline the audiences may be feeling. 

The next shot is a mid shot of one of the male antagonists. Here, he is presented in a suit which places him in a position of power and clarifies the significance of male dominance in the film. In this shot he is shown telling another man "they are in Brighton", this coupled with the next shot which is a long shot of a train, connotes the shift in location for the audiences and could emphasise the level of danger involved in the film due to its widespread locations. 

Cross cutting is used once again between the females travelling on the train and various suspenseful shots. One of the men can be seen in an extreme close up loading a gun, which is a typical connotation of violence and gives an insight into what is going to happen in the future. The presence of a gun automatically increases the level of tension due to its negative and violent reputation. Another close up is used of the man pointing the gun towards someone and shouting at them. This again is an example of male dominance and emphasises the stereotype of violent males which is very common in thrillers. This theme continues right to the end of the trailer which suggests it is an important focus of the film. 

Males can be see belittling the females by shouting at them and physically pushing them to the ground with a gun in their hand. This is very conventional of a thriller as it connotes the idea that females are just seen as objects and not actually intelligent human beings. The male is seen in the mid shot (right) to be smirking as if he is enjoying the pain that the female is demonstrating which again is not uncommon in a thriller as it is a way for the male to assert he dominance/significance over the female. The next shot used is a mid shot of the other male antagonist pointing a gun directly to the camera shouting "get here now". This makes the audience feel more involved in the trailer as it creates the effect that he is pointing it at them. Due to this it increases the sense of jeopardy and peril and therefore also increases the suspense. 

The last non-diegetic sound that the audience hears is a gun shot, which is very stereotypical in a thriller. This acts as an enigma as the audience is left questioning who was shot, which is cleverly used as a way of enticing the audience to then go and watch the film. The image left on the screen when this non-diegetic sound is used it the title of the film in white sans serif font with a black background. This simplicity suggests that  the producers feel like the trailer speaks for itself and that the title doesn't need any special font or special effects to demonstrate the films message. However, the stark contrast of the black and white could also be a way of displaying the difference between the male antagonists and female protagonists in the film which is therefore the contrast between evil and innocence.